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Monday, December 15, 2025
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Book Excerpts

Harriet Brooks transformed nuclear physics. But Barnard College fired her for getting married

In 'Her Space, Her Time', award-winning quantum physicist Shohini Ghose delves into the stories of remarkable women who transformed science.

Romulus Whitaker’s colour blindness was an advantage. It helped him spot snakes easily

In ‘Snakes, Drugs And Rock ’N’ Roll’, Romulus Whitaker and his wife Janaki Lenin write about Whitaker’s childhood and his adventures before setting up the famed Chennai Snake Park.

One thing all education ministers under Nehru aimed to do—make Indians doubt ancient values

In 'Modian Consensus', Swadesh Singh talks about how the Nehruvian Consensus demolished the ideas of the Civilisational Consensus that had spiritualism at its core.

‘Bread, work, liberty’—when Chilean women sewed quilts with messages to oppose Gen Pinochet

In 'Audacious Hope', Indrajit Roy talks about how hope is expressed through ordinary people’s resistance in the face of brutal, unrelenting repression.

Sudha Murthy is a rebel disguised as a traditionalist

In 'An Uncommon Love', Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni tells the story of how Sudha and Narayana Murthy met and how their love changed each others lives.

Congress was once India’s Blackberry. And then both fell into an ‘overconfidence cycle’

In '2024', former Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha argues that India is in a state of free fall, raising urgent issues before the country goes to polls this year.

Aurangzeb razed Gyanvapi temple to save a Hindu rani—scholars made up tales to justify bigotry

In ‘Waiting for Shiva’, Vikram Sampath looks at the historical significance of Kashi for Hindus and the legal aspects of the ongoing case.

How the Malayali Gulf migrant became the ‘suffering rich’

In ‘The Gulf Migrant Archives in Kerala’, Mohamed Shafeeq Karinkurayil explores the rumours and stereotypes associated with Malayalis who work in the Gulf.

Aurangzeb tossed his sister’s suitor off Red Fort wall–no man could pursue Mughal princesses

Anisha Shekhar Mukherji's architectural biography 'The Red Fort of Shahjahanabad' offers a rich and engaging narrative of the iconic Fort.

The Chandayana – an epic Awadhi love story with many illustrated adaptations

Individual folios of Chandayana manuscripts are also part of public and private collections and institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum, New York, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

On Camera

Why district judges almost never make it to India’s Supreme Court

Indian judiciary has a corrosive imbalance between the bar and the bench. Those who supervise the district judiciary do so without the lived experience that is essential for meaningful reform.

Rupee’s turmoil has echoes of 2013

With the US-India trade deal yet to get done, rupee depreciation may be helping to mitigate India’s loss of competitiveness. The other problem is extreme despondence among overseas equity investors.

US clears $686-mn package to breathe fresh life into Pakistani F-16s

Of the total package, $649 million will be utilised for additional hardware, software, and support services, and the remaining for Major Defence Equipment (MDE).

India’s top airline just handed sarkar the keys. That’s IndiGo’s real ‘crime’

Don’t blame misfortune. This is colossal incompetence and insensitivity. So bad, heads would have rolled even in the old PSU-era Indian Airlines and Air India.