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Saturday, November 22, 2025
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Book Excerpts

Trump didn’t make America isolationist. It dates back to George Washington

In ‘Isolationism’, Charles A. Kupchan traces the US history of shielding itself from the world. And it’s not a tradition that started with Trump.

The Class of Taxila — how Mortimer Wheeler set up the first Indian archaeology school

In ‘Archeology and the public purpose’, Nayanjot Lahiri writes on the gap between govt departments & universities bridged by The Taxila School of Archaeology.

Can Manthara be charged for conspiracy against Ayodhya? Putting Ramayana through IPC test

In ‘Ramayana Revisited’, journalist Anil Maheshwari and SC Advocate Vipul Maheshwari look at the legality of the Manthara episode.

You are what you eat — the connection between memory and our stomach

In ‘The Food Mood Connection’ Uma Naidoo writes about how seeing an ex can make you nauseous, pointing to the connection between your brain and gut.

How we ensured ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ premiere had drinks, with Janata Party govt in power

In ‘On The Move’, entrepreneur Hari Khemka writes about the Rajasthan Yuva Manch and hosting the all-India premiere of Raj Kapoor’s mega film in 1978.

How love, war and Mughal fine art inspired Kangra painting

In ‘Painting in the Kangra Valley’, Vijay Sharma analyses how Mughal traditions influenced paintings of the Guler and Kangra courts.

Wear Che Guevara, Johnny Walker and Gandhi on your T-shirts, but it says nothing about you

In ‘Consumerist Encounters’, Sreedeep Bhattacharya explores how our relationships & representations of commodities like T-shirts have evolved in urban India.

Amartya Sen said no democracy, with a free press, has ever had major famines

In ‘How To Read Amartya Sen’, Lawrence Hamilton writes on the economist’s thrust on free press and public reasoning as the centre of a democracy.

Indira Gandhi faced a threat when she visited a New York gurudwara in 1982

In ‘The Khalistan Conspiracy’, former R&AW officer G.B.S. Sidhu writes about the security details of Indira Gandhi’s US trip and possible threats to her life.

A ‘skeleton bent like a bow’, Sri Ramakrishna’s battle with cancer made him child-like

In ‘Preparing for Death’, Arun Shourie traces Sri Ramakrishna’s battle with cancer and his pleading with the doctor to lessen the unbearable pain.

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.