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Saturday, November 22, 2025
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Book Excerpts

When it comes to British rule, rich, powerful Indians were complicit every step of the way

In ‘Peace, Poverty and Betrayal’, Roderick Matthews writes that the initial strategy of the British in India was ‘oblige and rule’.

Money, jewellery gone from palace — Madhavrao Scindia didn’t like Rajmata funding Jana Sangh

In ‘The House of Scindias’, Rasheed Kidwai writes about the rift between Vijaya Raje Scindia and her son Madhavrao over politics, Sardar Angre, and funding to Jana Sangh.

British rulers had a class system for Indian mental asylums — pauper and rich

In ‘Curing Madness?’, Shilpi Rajpal writes that the Indian Lunacy Act of 1858 made a distinction between psychiatry for the rich and for the poor.

When feminist Lady Meherbai Tata sold her famous Jubilee diamond to save Tata Steel

In ‘#Tata Stories’, Harish Bhat shares forty stories about legendary Tata leaders and how they contributed to India’s nation-building.

Why Rahul Dravid flipped seeing Suresh Raina wearing an FCUK T-shirt in Malaysia

In his book 'Believe', retired Indian cricketer Suresh Raina writes with Bharat Sundaresan that he never feared anyone more than Rahul Dravid on and off the cricket field.

Not all women made it to Mughal portraits, but a royal advisor and owner of a library did

In ‘Reflections on Mughal Art and Culture’, Mika Natif writes that illustration of Mughal women in court histories like Akbarnama was no different from that of Mughal men.

From Nehru to Churchill, this poem about Buddha moved many in their youth: Jairam Ramesh

In ‘The Light Of Asia: The Poem that Defined the Buddha’, Jairam Ramesh writes on the influence of Sir Edwin Arnold’s epic poem, which he first read as a teenager.

English language gained in power in India only after the British left

In ‘Wanderers, Kings, Merchants’, linguist Peggy Mohan writes that until Independence, English was only a second language of a few Indians.

The 2020s will decide if India will be a gazelle or a hippo — large, slow, and aggressive

In ‘Decisive Decade’, Kiran Karnik writes that this was going to be ‘India’s century’, but it all started going downhill from 2012.

If police won’t let us go by road, we’ll get into river — Journey of 7 Bihari migrant workers

In ‘1232 km’, National Award-winning filmmaker Vinod Kapri writes about accompanying 7 workers for 7 days and nights as they cycled back home during the 2020 lockdown.

On Camera

India’s labour policy left it unable to compete with other eastern economies: Nani A Palkhivala

Liberty without accountability is the freedom of the fool. Our concept of freedom will remain impoverished until it is deepened by liberal education, wrote Nani A Palkhivala in 1995.

At Charcha 2025: Local entrepreneurship, not just big IT, will drive next wave of distributed AI work

While global corporations setting up GCCs in India continue to express confidence in availability of skilled AI engineers, the panel argued that India’s real challenge lies elsewhere.

Tejas fighter aircraft crashes at Dubai Air Show, IAF confirms pilot’s death

This is the second such incident after a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas had crashed into a hostel on the outskirts of Jaisalmer in March last year.

A tribute to Tejas. India’s delay culture is the real enemy in the skies

It is a brilliant, reasonably priced, and mostly homemade aircraft with a stellar safety record; only two crashes in 24 years since its first flight. But its crash is a moment of introspection.