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Monday, November 24, 2025
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Book Excerpts

We conducted US’ 1st caste survey. Got slurs, saw Dalit silence, 1 group had existential crisis

In 'Trauma of Caste', Thenmozhi Soundarajan talks about the history of caste discrimination in the US and Equality Labs' experience of conducting the first caste survey.

Why some leopards become ‘crooked’ man-eaters—the conspiracies

In Crooked Cats, Nayanika Mathur says the intentionality behind the appearance of dangerous animals is often assumed, with the state accused of conspiracy to murder.

How the NDA charmed the Hindi belt through sympathisers in Hindi media

In Discovery’s show Man vs. Wild, PM Modi spoke only in Hindi. It received wide coverage in the Hindi media, despite the fact that host Grylls spoke only English.

‘Hillary, Tenzing followed my footsteps’ — Sherpa who paved the way to Everest with 25kg load

In ‘Sherpa,’ Pradeep Bashyal and Ankit Babu Adhikari write how the Sherpa community exists at the edge of life and death in Nepal.

Annapurna Dutta, one of the first female photographers, clicked Sarojini Naidu, Muslim elites

It was uncommon for women of the era to work outside. So, Dutta visited wealthy Indian families for commissioned portraits and developed the photographs herself at home.

Disruptions are as much a part of Indian Parliament now as British rules and rituals

In ‘House of the People,’ Ronojoy Sen writes TV telecast, diverse composition of Parliament, and love for Gandhian ways have led to a rise in disruptions.

Was Hindi writer Nirmal Verma the Hindutva proponent he was accused of being? New book answers

In ‘Here and Hereafter,’ Vineet Gill writes that Verma spoke against applying European secularism in India. It only helped religion make ‘back-door entry’ into politics.

Decoding the Gurgaon real estate model—Patwaris, liaisoners and double-headed civil servants

This excerpt from ‘Subaltern Frontiers’ by Thomas Cowan has been published with permission from HarperCollins.

Rajputs, Gurkhas, Sikhs, even Muslims—how Hindu concept of ‘dharma’ ruled Indian military

In 'True to Their Salt', Ravindra Rathee says the Indian affinity to arms was inspired by the power of the yogi, the king, and the Kshatriya to follow dharma.

Why did JRD Tata’s Air India have 8,000 artistic treasures? Raza, Husain, ashtrays by Dali

The publicity hoardings Tata mounted for Air India said: “We do business in 3 languages – English, English, English.”

On Camera

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.