M.J. Akbar, Author at The Sunday Guardian Live

One dagger, and many cloaks

Mamata Banerjee understands the propensities of a cloak. She has used it often enough in her career as turbulence has forced her to leap...

Days of Judgement

Politicians fear the law, as indeed they should. But what truly terrifies them is the great hall of justice known as the court of...

Days of Judgement

Politicians fear the law, as indeed they should. But what truly terrifies them is the great hall of justice known as the court of...

Days of Judgement

Politicians fear the law, as indeed they should. But what truly terrifies them is the great hall of justice known as the court of...

Time for another government

There are enough saints to fill a thick register, but few who etch an impression on the collective memory. St Augustine, who lived between...

Time for another government

There are enough saints to fill a thick register, but few who etch an impression on the collective memory. St Augustine, who lived between...

Time for another government

There are enough saints to fill a thick register, but few who etch an impression on the collective memory. St Augustine, who lived between...

Should the best man remain a bachelor?

Margins cannot determine the fate of the text. At the moment, the story of the next elections to Rashtrapati Bhavan is in neither array...

Should the best man remain a bachelor?

Margins cannot determine the fate of the text. At the moment, the story of the next elections to Rashtrapati Bhavan is in neither array...

Should the best man remain a bachelor?

Margins cannot determine the fate of the text. At the moment, the story of the next elections to Rashtrapati Bhavan is in neither array...

Shah Rukh Khan: The limits of destiny

Money is a strange aphrodisiac. It stiffens obstinacy and softens the brain, when the reverse might be far more useful. Add a bit of...

Shah Rukh Khan: The limits of destiny

Money is a strange aphrodisiac. It stiffens obstinacy and softens the brain, when the reverse might be far more useful. Add a bit of...

Shah Rukh Khan: The limits of destiny

Money is a strange aphrodisiac. It stiffens obstinacy and softens the brain, when the reverse might be far more useful. Add a bit of...

Cats, whiskers and different kinds of mice

Some of the hype is sui generis: it comes with the DNA. But most of it is in the eye of the beholder. By...

Cats, whiskers and different kinds of mice

Some of the hype is sui generis: it comes with the DNA. But most of it is in the eye of the beholder. By...

Cats, whiskers and different kinds of mice

Some of the hype is sui generis: it comes with the DNA. But most of it is in the eye of the beholder. By...

Spring comes to Malaysia

Anyone can get angry. But to rise in anger, it helps to be young. The young constitute the heart of any uprising for two...

Spring comes to Malaysia

Anyone can get angry. But to rise in anger, it helps to be young. The young constitute the heart of any uprising for two...

Spring comes to Malaysia

Anyone can get angry. But to rise in anger, it helps to be young. The young constitute the heart of any uprising for two...

Big statues don’t cry, unless…

The thought has occurred to me before, but seems more relevant now. If you are lucky in life, you become a statue in death....

Big statues don’t cry, unless…

The thought has occurred to me before, but seems more relevant now. If you are lucky in life, you become a statue in death....

Big statues don’t cry, unless…

The thought has occurred to me before, but seems more relevant now. If you are lucky in life, you become a statue in death....

A Pilgrim’s Progress

The British Museum should, in all propriety, be renamed the British Empire Museum. The largest repository of human genius is a magnificent tribute to...

A Pilgrim’s Progress

The British Museum should, in all propriety, be renamed the British Empire Museum. The largest repository of human genius is a magnificent tribute to...

A Pilgrim’s Progress

The British Museum should, in all propriety, be renamed the British Empire Museum. The largest repository of human genius is a magnificent tribute to...

Can Delhi collect $10m?

The dilemma is troublesome, if not acute. America offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to the arrest of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed,...

Can Delhi collect $10m?

The dilemma is troublesome, if not acute. America offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to the arrest of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed,...

Can Delhi collect $10m?

The dilemma is troublesome, if not acute. America offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to the arrest of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed,...

The balance between give and take

It must be a bit galling for Mrs Sonia Gandhi to kowtow before a politician who sabotaged her personal bid to lead a Congress...

The balance between give and take

It must be a bit galling for Mrs Sonia Gandhi to kowtow before a politician who sabotaged her personal bid to lead a Congress...

The balance between give and take

It must be a bit galling for Mrs Sonia Gandhi to kowtow before a politician who sabotaged her personal bid to lead a Congress...

The past is more than memory

Dr Henry Kissinger had just become America's Secretary of State when Egypt's President Anwar Sadat surprised the world and stunned his Arab brothers by...

The past is more than memory

Dr Henry Kissinger had just become America's Secretary of State when Egypt's President Anwar Sadat surprised the world and stunned his Arab brothers by...

The past is more than memory

Dr Henry Kissinger had just become America's Secretary of State when Egypt's President Anwar Sadat surprised the world and stunned his Arab brothers by...

Mamata Banerjee’s Mamata Banerjee

The two popular draws at any country fair are that of the fire-eater and the juggler. The biggest fair in our democratic country is...

Mamata Banerjee’s Mamata Banerjee

The two popular draws at any country fair are that of the fire-eater and the juggler. The biggest fair in our democratic country is...

Mamata Banerjee’s Mamata Banerjee

The two popular draws at any country fair are that of the fire-eater and the juggler. The biggest fair in our democratic country is...

Hallucination is the best medicine

There is one colourful aspect of elections that has been sadly neglected in the coverage of this vibrant game called democracy. This is the...

Hallucination is the best medicine

There is one colourful aspect of elections that has been sadly neglected in the coverage of this vibrant game called democracy. This is the...

Hallucination is the best medicine

There is one colourful aspect of elections that has been sadly neglected in the coverage of this vibrant game called democracy. This is the...

The Triple Ripple Effect

For the first 54 years of India's democracy Uttar Pradesh provided seven out of eight Prime Ministers, three from three generations of the same...

The Triple Ripple Effect

For the first 54 years of India's democracy Uttar Pradesh provided seven out of eight Prime Ministers, three from three generations of the same...

The Triple Ripple Effect

For the first 54 years of India's democracy Uttar Pradesh provided seven out of eight Prime Ministers, three from three generations of the same...

The Joy of Trash

There is only one rational response to the classic airport offer: Buy one, save 10%; buy two, save 20%; buy three, save 40%. Buy nothing,...

The Joy of Trash

There is only one rational response to the classic airport offer: Buy one, save 10%; buy two, save 20%; buy three, save 40%. Buy nothing,...

The Joy of Trash

There is only one rational response to the classic airport offer: Buy one, save 10%; buy two, save 20%; buy three, save 40%. Buy nothing,...

Power of Love, and Love of Power

Every good election contributes something to folklore. Uttar Pradesh is the land of lore; and the turbulence of its politicians is matched only by the...

Power of Love, and Love of Power

Every good election contributes something to folklore. Uttar Pradesh is the land of lore; and the turbulence of its politicians is matched only by the...

Power of Love, and Love of Power

Every good election contributes something to folklore. Uttar Pradesh is the land of lore; and the turbulence of its politicians is matched only by the...

At the drop of a tear

Tears are a fragile weapon in public life. Their success rate is so low that it is rarely wise to display them. People check what...

‘Rahul wants Uddhav as Maharashtra Chief Minister’

Jharkhand, Maharashtra will test Rahul’s leadership

Delhi Court allows ED more time to verify AAP MLA Khan’s FDR

M.J. Akbar

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