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Monday, May 6, 2024
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Book Excerpts

Rajiv Gandhi had wanted to end impasse in Kashmir and saw Farooq Abdullah as its best bet

Rajiv and Farooq had virtually grown up together. Whenever the Nehru–Gandhi family was in Kashmir, the Abdullah family was always available to them.

That moment when I started questioning my support of PM Modi: Tavleen Singh

In her new book, Tavleen Singh writes about PM Modi's "disheartening response" to her questions during a private conversation when he was in his first term.

Dara Shukoh had a dream. And it was about Ram

This dream was prompted by something the prince had recently read. Its author was Dara Shukoh’s contemporary Shaikh Sufi, a mystic Mughal official.

How VSNL launched internet services in India in 1995 when even China hadn’t

India's 'Telecom Man' Brijendra K. Syngal, under whose guidance internet was introduced, recounts in a new book the pains VSNL went through to set up the system.

Rashpal Singh Chandra: Why Hindus of Punjab’s Katani Kalan village hailed this Sikh militant

The anti-Hindu and anti-Congress narrative do not completely define Punjab's militancy movement. This anecdote shows why the sage of militancy is layered.

China never had to learn English like India because its economy relied on manufacturing

Contrary to China, whose post-1993 growth acceleration was concentrated on the manufacturing sector, India’s growth was service driven.

I may be the only lady doing the skin-beating job: What mrdangam-maker Geetha told me

Mrdangam-making has always been a male-controlled territory. But Geetha has nailed, cleaned and dried skins for years, TM Krishna writes in his new book.

Hate is hot in India. Colder ideas like constitutional patriotism must work harder to win

Constitutional patriotism is a modern concept anchored in the idea of the nation-state. The problem is that it depends upon imaginings as fuzzy as nationalism itself.

Mountbatten planned to partition India into many countries. Then VP Menon stepped in

India’s future had been decided in a matter of 3 hours, between 7 am and 10.30 am, by Nehru and Mountbatten. And it was VP Menon who drew up a draft.

For India’s revolutionaries in freedom struggle, gyms & akharas were a cover for politics

The Jugantar movement started by Sri Aurobindo Ghosh used the guise of a fitness club to take in young teenagers and turn them into revolutionaries.

On Camera

AI is doing the brave work humans are still squeamish about—using they/them pronouns

The hullaballoo over LinkedIn bot’s pronoun use comes on a day when CJI DY Chandrachud used the phrase ‘pregnant person’ in his judgment. It is a thing now. Get with the programme.

Air India reduces baggage allowance by 5-15 kg, bringing it in line with rest of industry

Air India’s new policy, effective from 2 May, introduces new weight limits for tickets in each of the different 'fare families' — Comfort, Comfort Plus, and Flex.

Indian Coast Guard seizes Iranian fishing vessel, rescues six Indian crew members

The ICG said in a statement that the boat was seized and brought to Kochi for further investigation on May 6.

Frontrunner is letting the challenger define this poll campaign. Modi still hasn’t found a big theme

A theme has not yet emerged for BJP & people see lack of a contest, which makes it unexciting. For all these reasons, 2024 is turning out to be an unexpectedly theme-less election.