M.J. Akbar

Nothing absurd about the IPL theatre

Which of the two provides a better portrait of contemporary urban India: the stadium scenes of people watching an IPL cricket match, or the...

A root problem needs a root answer

Education comes in many forms when experience is your teacher. I recall the day when I was part of a delegation to some muscular...

A root problem needs a root answer

Education comes in many forms when experience is your teacher. I recall the day when I was part of a delegation to some muscular...

A root problem needs a root answer

Education comes in many forms when experience is your teacher. I recall the day when I was part of a delegation to some muscular...

If: The chasm between dead and missing

Intelligence agencies keep their secrets well because they are intelligent as well as secretive. Governments keep files classified for three or five decades because...

If: The chasm between dead and missing

Intelligence agencies keep their secrets well because they are intelligent as well as secretive. Governments keep files classified for three or five decades because...

If: The chasm between dead and missing

Intelligence agencies keep their secrets well because they are intelligent as well as secretive. Governments keep files classified for three or five decades because...

A premature Prize matures

One of the minor mysteries of this teenage century is how a toddler American President managed to win the Nobel Prize for Peace in...

A premature Prize matures

One of the minor mysteries of this teenage century is how a toddler American President managed to win the Nobel Prize for Peace in...

A premature Prize matures

One of the minor mysteries of this teenage century is how a toddler American President managed to win the Nobel Prize for Peace in...

Law, outlaw and brother-in-law

A perplexed question: Through which kink in our Freudian sub-strand has "saala" become a vituperative pejorative across the Indian subcontinent? We may be divided...

Law, outlaw and brother-in-law

A perplexed question: Through which kink in our Freudian sub-strand has "saala" become a vituperative pejorative across the Indian subcontinent? We may be divided...

Law, outlaw and brother-in-law

A perplexed question: Through which kink in our Freudian sub-strand has "saala" become a vituperative pejorative across the Indian subcontinent? We may be divided...

A searchlight for a spotlight

We shall know soon enough which is the champion nation of contemporary one-day cricket. But we already know who the heroes are: Bangladesh. Each...

A searchlight for a spotlight

We shall know soon enough which is the champion nation of contemporary one-day cricket. But we already know who the heroes are: Bangladesh. Each...

A searchlight for a spotlight

We shall know soon enough which is the champion nation of contemporary one-day cricket. But we already know who the heroes are: Bangladesh. Each...

America, Iran and Iraq: Partners, not friends

Stability is an illusion that nations advertise to comfort citizens. Countries either sink along a gravitational pull beyond the control of governments, or ascend...

America, Iran and Iraq: Partners, not friends

Stability is an illusion that nations advertise to comfort citizens. Countries either sink along a gravitational pull beyond the control of governments, or ascend...

America, Iran and Iraq: Partners, not friends

Stability is an illusion that nations advertise to comfort citizens. Countries either sink along a gravitational pull beyond the control of governments, or ascend...

Between power and hallucination

Power without responsibility is about as close to political nirvana as you can get. What could be more enchanting than pure escapism? Although one...

Between power and hallucination

Power without responsibility is about as close to political nirvana as you can get. What could be more enchanting than pure escapism? Although one...

Between power and hallucination

Power without responsibility is about as close to political nirvana as you can get. What could be more enchanting than pure escapism? Although one...

A blueprint for a new economy

One section of Indians, small but very powerful, will be deeply upset by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's first proper budget: those who cheated the...

A blueprint for a new economy

One section of Indians, small but very powerful, will be deeply upset by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's first proper budget: those who cheated the...

A blueprint for a new economy

One section of Indians, small but very powerful, will be deeply upset by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's first proper budget: those who cheated the...

Justice in the Supreme Court

Justice is fragile without honour. The letter of the law is finite, but the spirit of the law is infinite. A judge is measured...

Justice in the Supreme Court

Justice is fragile without honour. The letter of the law is finite, but the spirit of the law is infinite. A judge is measured...

Justice in the Supreme Court

Justice is fragile without honour. The letter of the law is finite, but the spirit of the law is infinite. A judge is measured...

Double or Quits: Mamata’s strange manoeuvre

The newspaper headlines during two exceedingly pleasant days in Kolkata this week were intriguing, to put it mildly. They were full of taxi fares.Every...

Double or Quits: Mamata’s strange manoeuvre

The newspaper headlines during two exceedingly pleasant days in Kolkata this week were intriguing, to put it mildly. They were full of taxi fares.Every...

Double or Quits: Mamata’s strange manoeuvre

The newspaper headlines during two exceedingly pleasant days in Kolkata this week were intriguing, to put it mildly. They were full of taxi fares.Every...

Ghosts of cricket past

As the ceaseless season of 30x12 cricket (for the uninitiated that means round-the-year) enters another one-day caper, my thoughts stray to a 26-year-old Pakistani...

Ghosts of cricket past

As the ceaseless season of 30x12 cricket (for the uninitiated that means round-the-year) enters another one-day caper, my thoughts stray to a 26-year-old Pakistani...

Ghosts of cricket past

As the ceaseless season of 30x12 cricket (for the uninitiated that means round-the-year) enters another one-day caper, my thoughts stray to a 26-year-old Pakistani...

Let’s hope Shri 5000 Bottles loses

How many men do you need to cart over 5,000 bottles of whisky into a Delhi warehouse on the eve of an Assembly election?...

Let’s hope Shri 5000 Bottles loses

How many men do you need to cart over 5,000 bottles of whisky into a Delhi warehouse on the eve of an Assembly election?...

Let’s hope Shri 5000 Bottles loses

How many men do you need to cart over 5,000 bottles of whisky into a Delhi warehouse on the eve of an Assembly election?...

Obama leads world to India

Relations between India and the United States have been flawed with a genetic defect ever since Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru called on President Harry...

Obama leads world to India

Relations between India and the United States have been flawed with a genetic defect ever since Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru called on President Harry...

Obama leads world to India

Relations between India and the United States have been flawed with a genetic defect ever since Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru called on President Harry...

Security is a word in economic lexicon

The seesaw of democratic tussle survives on a few unwritten laws. One cardinal rule demands unity across party lines during any security crisis. Those...

Security is a word in economic lexicon

The seesaw of democratic tussle survives on a few unwritten laws. One cardinal rule demands unity across party lines during any security crisis. Those...

Security is a word in economic lexicon

The seesaw of democratic tussle survives on a few unwritten laws. One cardinal rule demands unity across party lines during any security crisis. Those...

Make space for a Mahatma’s mind, heart

The return of a Mahatma to our newspapers in January 2015 should be considered almost as welcome as the return of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi...

Make space for a Mahatma’s mind, heart

The return of a Mahatma to our newspapers in January 2015 should be considered almost as welcome as the return of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi...

Make space for a Mahatma’s mind, heart

The return of a Mahatma to our newspapers in January 2015 should be considered almost as welcome as the return of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi...

Relentless vigilance is the price of stability

The safest prediction for 2015 is that the tension of actual or possible terrorism will continue to test our nerves. There are enough questions...

Relentless vigilance is the price of stability

The safest prediction for 2015 is that the tension of actual or possible terrorism will continue to test our nerves. There are enough questions...

Relentless vigilance is the price of stability

The safest prediction for 2015 is that the tension of actual or possible terrorism will continue to test our nerves. There are enough questions...

Good Morning, 2015

We believe in God not because of, but in spite of His magnificent creation, man. There is nothing much left to learn from the...

- A word from our sponsors -

spot_img

Follow us