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SG Writings On The Wall

Writings on the Wall is a metaphor that grew out of my travels, mostly through the poll-bound regions of India and the neighbourhood over nearly 25 years. Because, even more than its big festivals, the subcontinent comes to life during its elections. And what’s on people’s minds, their aspirations, joys, concerns and fears, you can pretty much understand by reading these writings on the wall. These can be graffiti, advertising, skylines, fences, or even rubble.

2015 Writings on Bihar walls:First stirrings of aspiration beyond caste, identity & bijli-sadak-pani

ThePrint Videos - October 6, 2025

Bihar isn’t ‘ruined’ by agri reform. This ‘branded underwear theory’ from 2010 shows why

Punjab’s frustration & anger is rooted in its steep decline, now visible in farmers’ protests

Aspiration and desperation in UP’s East

Inside a comic-book coup

SGIN - March 19, 2005

Earlier this week, some newspapers carried a small obituary notice announcing the demise of Vice Admiral Srinivasa Varadachari V. Gopalachari of the Indian Navy....

Stirrings in a hopeless land

SGIN - February 26, 2005

Bihar is no more the least politically exciting state as its aspirations have moved on from the usual 'Bijli-Sadak-Pani'. It now includes 'padhai'.

Mr Dixit, I presume

SGIN - January 8, 2005

J.N. 'Mani' Dixit, India's former foreign secretary, was an expert on Sri Lanka, an accomplished diplomat and a public servant Delhi didn't deserve.

Seizure in the Heartland

SGIN - May 1, 2004

Here's a question for both, the pundit and the pollster. Or maybe it is just a truism suffixed with a convenient question mark: Could...

Poll notes of a limo liberal

SGIN - December 6, 2003

If you laugh at parachute reporters, what would you call a genuinely motley gang of psephologists, investment bankers, editors, columnists and television anchors —...

Konark & fibre-glass ducks

SGIN - November 15, 2003

You have to give them full marks for punctuality and feather-touch landings. Yet, it is difficult to cast away your prejudices against very old...

The error in terror

SGIN - September 13, 2003

Speak with any New Yorker this week and his favourite line seems to be, "it was a day just like this". We sit looking...

The Kanchi Trinity

SGIN - July 5, 2003

By the standards of the temples and religious establishments in the south, the Kanchi Kamakodi Peeth, better known as the Kanchi Mutt, is much...

Travels in Haryana’s Ahirland: Stirrings in out-of-sight, out-of-mind country

SGIN - June 7, 2003

You cannot fault the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for not putting more prominent signs to announce the exit ramp for Rewari on...

Some lines in the desert

SGIN - October 26, 2002

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is the last place you would expect to be in to speak at a college reunion. It's also an unlikely place...

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SG Writings On The Wall

2015 Writings on Bihar walls:First stirrings of aspiration beyond caste, identity & bijli-sadak-pani

Bihar isn’t ‘ruined’ by agri reform. This ‘branded underwear theory’ from 2010 shows why

Punjab’s frustration & anger is rooted in its steep decline, now visible in farmers’ protests

Aspiration and desperation in UP’s East

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