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Saturday, November 22, 2025
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Book Excerpts

When India sent scores of prisoners to Iraq as sweepers during World War I

In ‘The Coolie’s Great War’, Radhika Singha writes about the British recruiting Indian prisoners and ‘criminal tribes’ to do menial jobs in Mesopotamia.

Covid pandemic has shown India the utility of smaller facilities over mega hospitals

In 'Till We Win', public health expert Chadrakant Lahariya, scientist Gagandeep Kang and AIIMS director Randeep Guleria write that Covid has shown the link between India’s health and economy.

Indian Army wanted Royal Enfield Bullets — Nehru ensured they were ‘made in India’ first

In ‘Indian Icon’, Amrit Raj traces the journey of Royal Enfield setting up an Indian company with Madras Motors because the Army wanted hardy bikes.

If cholera, plague, influenza pandemics have taught us anything — don’t celebrate prematurely

In ‘The Age of Pandemics’, Chinmay Tumbe writes that the outcomes of pandemics are strongly influenced by politics — whether the plague or the Spanish Flu.

How we found the perfect Delhi barsaati, paanwallah name for Chashme Buddoor: Sai Paranjpye

In ‘A Patchwork Quilt’, filmmaker Sai Paranjpye writes about how she made Chashme Buddoor, Katha, Sparsh, and Saaz.

That Muslims enslaved Hindus for last 1000 yrs is historically unacceptable: Romila Thapar

The book ‘Inquilab: A Decade of Protest’ chronicles some of the most powerful speeches and articles by Kavita Krishnan, Romila Thapar, Kanhaiya Kumar, Mahua Maitra, and others.

I went to Pakistan to rescue my friend and was arrested as a spy: Hamid Ansari’s journey

Hamid Ansari writes with Geeta Mohan about how he had gone to rescue his Pakistani friend from marriage but was accused of being a R&AW spy.

How East India Company introduced rewards for killing India’s ‘dangerous vermin’ tigers

In ‘The Maharaja of Jodhpur's Guns’, Robert Elgood writes on historic Indian firearms and Rajput traditions relating to hunting and war.

When Rahul Dravid told Ram Guha to ‘shut up’ about cricket strategy, write history books

In ‘The Commonwealth of Cricket’, Ramachandra Guha writes about his admiration for Rahul Dravid, whom he once emailed some cricketing tips.

When Advani and Vajpayee founded BJP, they knew RSS needed to be kept at arm’s length

In 'Jugalbandi', Vinay Sitapati writes that Vajpayee-Advani knew BJP would need to couple Hindu nationalism with the policies of Jayaprakash Narayan.

On Camera

Trump’s 28 points for Ukraine add up to a no-go at peace

Two questions are pertinent: Why does the Trump administration keep making the same mistakes on the peace proposal? And what does a hurried peace plan mean on the ground?

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.

INDIA has a Congress-sized hole. And the fix begins with a little humility

Without a Congress revival, there can be no challenge to the BJP pan-nationally. Modi’s party is growing, and almost entirely at the cost of the Congress.