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Writings on the wall

Virat, Anushka, Bumrah selling sarias & cement, dentists, vets, Bihar walls painted in ‘rurbanisation’

Shekhar Gupta - November 14, 2025

Writings on the Haryana Wall still have Modi first, just the first among equals

Rural Punjab is a time capsule. Its new story is the old one: declining economy, rising religiosity, bad politics

Education, aspiration & 3 de-hyphenations: A changing Kashmir votes and vents

Yogi’s cows, Modi’s houses, Akhilesh’s jobs: Why this is a more ‘normal’ Uttar Pradesh election

Shekhar Gupta - March 5, 2022

Caste is back, after 2014, 2017 and 2019. Joblessness is the new nationalism and religion. Too many poor people are hurting as they pay for cow protection.

Stirrings in a Hopeless Land

Shekhar Gupta - July 31, 2020

Finally, there's a new idea in Bihar: ink-in-the-pen vs oil-in-the-lathi.

Bengal stands up to ask for more

Shekhar Gupta - July 31, 2020

And the CPM can't understand why - while Mamata says she is ready to deliver.

Welcome to Pakistan, a full-fledged national security state which suspects everyone, most of all its own.

Shekhar Gupta - December 13, 2019

Welcome to Pakistan, a full-fledged national security state which suspects everyone, most of all its own.

Modi’s Hindutva 2.0 written on Varanasi walls: Temple restoration, not mosque demolition

Shekhar Gupta - May 11, 2019

Modi has boldly ventured to redevelop Varanasi’s messy, filthy inner city. It’s a restoration project that can delight his large Hindu constituency.

Bengal stands up to ask for more

Shekhar Gupta - May 4, 2019

And the CPM can't understand why - while Mamata says she is ready to deliver.

From Soviet Union in Alimuddin Street to a watch repair shop in Singur

Shekhar Gupta - May 4, 2019

The Revolution stands still while people yearn for change.

Varanasi, 2014: Why I’d said, before the secular dip, hold your nose

Shekhar Gupta - April 29, 2019

When a thug wanted for murder joins the fight against communalism, a firebrand secular isn’t pleased they threw eggs at his rudraksh.

Welcome to Freebiestan, also known as KCR’s Telangana

Shekhar Gupta - December 8, 2018

We aren’t being funny. Just reading the ‘Writings on the Wall’ in Telangana, where KCR has redefined handouts and welfare. Yet, it’ll take him more to win.