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Monday, November 24, 2025
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Book Excerpts

How Rajiv Gandhi govt wrested small cardamom market from Guatemala

In 'As Good as My Word', K.M. Chandrasekhar mentions that the govt improved its cardamom exports and rivalled that of Malaysia, the gold standard in the market.

This is what Charles Sobhraj told a journalist on ‘what makes a man a murderer’

Charles Sobhraj wouldn’t live on the street as his mother had; he would have a respectable life. But punishments only angered Charles further.

Getting princely states into the Constituent Assembly was a Patel and Menon masterstroke

In ‘We, The People of the States of Bharat,' Sanjeev Chopra talks about the formation of Indian states prior to 1956 as a result of historical accidents and circumstances.

Who truly owns the biryani? Experts say Dharmasastras, Mahabharata mention it

In 'Don't Forward That Text', Amit Schandillia traces the roots of biryani—ancient India, Macedonia to Persia.

Mughal and Rajput art, Western-style—Company paintings, the lovechild of India & British Raj

Company painting emerged out of a sustained interaction between Indian and European culture after the East India Company gained control over Bengal in 1757.

Before 1996 World Cup final, Ranatunga called Warne ‘average’, took pressure off the Lankans

The ultimate cornerstone of great captaincy is selfbelief. In the lead-up to the final, there was uncertainty in the Sri Lankan camp.

When YV Chandrachud said he had ‘lofty faith’ in Indira Gandhi govt during Emergency

In 'The Speaking Constitution', translated by Kalpana Kannabiran, K.G. Kannabiran gives anecdotes on challenging the Emergency in the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The woman who cooked her way into the story of India’s freedom movement

In 'The Last Heroes', P. Sainath tells the stories of millions of ordinary people—farmers, homemakers, artisans, labourers—who stood up to the British.

For Tulu community in India, ‘Bhuta’ masks are charged with magic, meaning and myth

Scholars have identified a complex interplay between indigenous traditions and castes— elements of which can be seen in bhuta masks.

Predator pornography is a thing. It was born out of shikaar writing on man-eating leopards

In ‘Leopard Diaries,’ Sanjay Gubbi gives us a 360-degree view of the leopard, its ecological context and its fraught relationship with the human world.

On Camera

New HAL CMD doesn’t have to be an ‘insider’. Let merit decide

India’s premier defence public sector undertaking, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, will have a new Chairman and Managing Director in May 2026. The selection process has...

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.

US pilot says his team pulled out of Dubai Air Show after Tejas crash out of respect for IAF pilot

Taylor ‘Fema’ Hiester, commander of USAF F-16 Viper Demo Team, hit out at air show organisers for continuing with the show after Wing Commander Namansh Syal lost his life in the incident.

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.