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Monday, November 24, 2025
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Book Excerpts

Lakshmanrao Inamdar, RSS ‘Advocate Sir’ who mentored Modi as his ideological son

In 'Strongmen Saviours', Deepanshu Mohan and Abhinav Padmanabhan talk about the tailwinds behind the rise of Narendra Modi.

Beema Bivi’s dargah—The most famous in Kerala, where Muslims, Christians, Hindus come to pray

In her book ‘In Search of the Divine,’ Rana Safvi writes about how Sufism developed a distinct character in India, and harmoniously embraced Bhakti traditions.

CEO or showman? From Modi to Jayalalithaa, the roles political outsiders take up in India

In ‘The People of India,’ Srirupa Roy writes how since the 1980s, the CEO figure has been valorised as an effective political agent opposed to corruption and inefficiency in Indian politics.

When economics defeated ideology in India and the three men behind it

In 'Reform Nation', ORF vice president Gautam Chikermane calls the 1991 reforms 'economic in expression but political in stance'.

When Pakistan govt said it’ll protest US drone strikes on Pashtuns and then ignore it

In The Pashtuns, Tilak Devasher talks about Pakistan's adoption of a duplicitous policy on the drones campaign by the US.

Why do more and more girls in South India study longer in schools? Hint-menstrual hygiene

In 'South vs North: India's Great Divide', Nilakantan RS writes about where the north and south states of India in comparison to each other across parameters.

Sahir Ludhianvi was the only lyricist who fought for Bollywood poets

KA Abbas' 'Sone Chandi Ke Buth', edited and translated by Syeda Hameed and Sukhpreet Kahlon, explores Bollywood and the lives of its biggest personalities.

How a Didarganj Yakshi statue discovered by accident near Patna led to a colonial fight

The Didarganj Yakshi has been the focus of much debate on style, valuation, colonial and postcolonial biases and the representation of women in art.

How Kutchi artisans ‘spied’ on Sindhi craftsmen to master exquisite chain stitch embroidery

‘The Shoemaker’s Stitch’ by Shilpa Shah and Rosemary Crill explores the rich history of Mochi embroidery in Gujarat.

‘Jhola-yukt, plastic-mukt’ — How Banda’s DM went plastic-free, from govt meetings to markets

In ‘Dynamic DM’, Heera Lal writes how the Banda DM’s bungalow only had earthenware utensils and in government meetings, tea was served in kulhads.

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.