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Book Excerpts

Hours before the start of the historic 1971 West Indies tour, Indian team had no kit to play

In ‘1971: The Beginning of India’s Cricketing Greatness’, Boria Majumdar and Gautam Bhattacharya write about the twin tours that made the Indian team a force to reckon with.

Ecology, cricket, Marx, history — The many Rams in Ramachandra Guha

In ‘A Functional Anarchy?’, historian David Gilmour writes about Ram Guha, the essayist and political journalist, whose articles reveal the most about his mind.

Infinite exponential economic growth is a myth, says Sam Pitroda

In ‘Redesign the World’, Sam Pitroda argues that hyperconnectivity and Covid-19 have offered a unique opportunity to redesign the world to meet future challenges.

Many blame me for not building on Modi-Sharif meet. I did what was in Pakistan’s best interest

In Hostility, former Pakistan high commissioner to India Abdul Basit writes about his tenure in Delhi from 2014 to 2017 — a difficult era in India-Pakistan ties.

Anand Bakshi almost gave up on Bollywood. Then came Bhagwan, Bhala Admi, a ticket collector

In ‘Nagme, Kisse, Baatein, Yaadein’, Rakesh Anand Bakshi gives readers an intimate peek into the life of the soldier-turned-lyricist Anand Bakshi.

Rape is born in adolescent minds. But where does it end?

In ‘After I Was Raped’, Urmi Bhattacheryya writes about a 4-year-old girl, two Dalit women, an 8-month-old infant and a young professional and their stories of sexual violence.

Modi’s India plans to be ‘vishwaguru’ but forgets soft power is useless without hard muscle

In ‘India and Asian Geopolitics’, Shivshankar Menon writes that being a vishwaguru plays well with Modi’s Hindu constituency but is hardly a realistic goal when India is a net importer of knowledge.

The British loved their meat, but some were fascinated by Hindu-Brahminical vegetarianism

In ‘Meat, Mercy, and Morality’, Samiparna Samanta writes that the British in India thrived on an elaborate diet of meat, but some preferred vegetarianism in the tropical climate.

A+++ to D – How China rates its citizens. Drunk driving can take you way down

In ‘How Should A Government Be’, Jaideep Prabhu writes China's ominous Social Credit system is a vision of what’s in store for us. Whether you are Left or Right, it matters whether your government does.

This chaiwala in Gujarat knew the success mantra, ditched MBA. Then Harvard came knocking

In ‘All you need is Josh’, Supriya Paul brings together stories of unique individuals and their inspiring journeys.

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.