Ideas News - Page 10
The unnatural Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad
Faced with so many scams, scandals, and galloping inflation, our minister might just have been trying to change the headlines by playing the homosexuality card.
A requiem for the unknown Indian
History is not made on page one or page three of the newspaper, but by countless, unnamed Indians who are easily forgotten. Here's a timely reminder.
Monster dilemma: Tiger cubs vs 9 percent GDP
Sariska and Panna have to serve as lessons on the perils of not only poaching the tiger out of its habitat, but the danger that discrete forests will rarely see lost tigers recolonize.
Can Puttaparthi become super Shirdi? The jury is out
Forget the 35 lakhs seized in a car leaving Puttaparthi. That's the least of the problems for Sai Baba's empire as it faces the future. Where should it look for guidance? Shirdi? Pondicherry? Tirupati?
The Grover murder verdict: the lynching of Maria Susairaj
The news channels are frothing for Maria's blood without any proof of a conspiracy. Maybe her real crime is that she isn't an 'achchi ladki'.
Why Manmohan Singh doesn't need to tweet
Contrary to what journalists like Barkha Dutt claim, our PM doesn't need an American-style image makeover. He needs a plan.
Does 'Hinglish' democratise English, or bastardise Hindi?
It is hard to escape the conclusion that Hinglish is our inevitable fate. And that Hindi has brought Hinglish upon itself.
Franzen goes exotic: the Indian woman and the Great American Novelist
The sexy young Lalitha in Jonathan Franzen's widely feted novel speaks volumes about the white male fantasy about Indian women.
Doctor Dread: A taste of Urdu detective noir
For the fans of larger-than-life villains, genius detectives, and beautiful femme fatales, here's a brief glimpse of the delights that await in an Ibne Safi potboiler.
Who shrank our intellectuals?
Being Left or Right has turned out to be a disorder among our thinking class. Reality is too unwieldy to fit into these dated constructs. Why don’t we have free thinkers around?
A Bangalore postcard: Top five reasons why my city is 'bananas'
Life in Bangalore is absurd and surreal, a daily reenactment of a Woody Allen movie — and, sadly, not the one that involves sexy blondes.
When Osama met Mullah Omar: A moment that could have changed history
Can the course of history be shaped by a single encounter? The fate of a nation sealed by a second-guessed, half-hearted decision that will doom it to perdition?
Bollywood branding: Arindam Chaudhuri's strategy for success
The celeb-entrepreneur routinely uses his movie producer credentials and ties to big-ticket stars like Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan to market IIPM and himself.
Immerse yourself in culture to be a better businessman, says NVIDIA's Trivedi
This is the fifith interview in an ongoing series on innovative thinkers and business leaders. Firstpost will explore technical expertise to a lesser degree and focus instead on what makes them outstanding leaders.
Next superpower? We can't even get our own names right...
Indians write their names is so many ways that it adds up to a nightmare - both for the agencies that want to capture our details and for people who are trying to figure our what their middle name is. Time we changed all that.
Dear Indians: please stop treating your help like family
While India has signed a bill last week to protect domestic workers, the case involving the Indian Consul General in New York facing an abuse lawsuit from his maid asks some very uncomfortable questions.
People don't drive tigers away, intolerance does
Instead of encouraging tiger-tolerant practices, we appear to be punishing people for merely residing at the wrong address.
Did Ganesh like Vyasa's Mahabharata?
Ten years ago, Alice Albinia had the idea to write two books, both shaped by the heat of a Delhi summer. The first was about a chubby Hindu god; the second, about a cool mountain river. Albinia shares the story behind the stories.
The five battles that defined Jairam Ramesh
Jairam Ramesh is often portrayed as a loose cannon, even by his own party colleagues. But he is a rare breed — a scholar and a technocrat, equally happy in an academic seminar or a political free-for-all.
Unsafe at all times: perils of the sexual revolution
Whether she goes to work, hangs out in a bar, or makes out with her lover, this newfound freedom is hazardous to a modern Indian woman's health.
The 21st century Bhagavad Gita: A new translation for a new millennium
Poet Mani Rao offers a bold, new translation of the Gita, cutting past conventions to deliver a playful, post-modern yet respectful interpretation of this sacred text.
Is India 'occupying' Kashmir? Why the Lefties are wrong
Is India doing an Israel in Kashmir? Some pseudo-Leftists seem to think so. But they should know that India is fighting sectarian forces in Kashmir, and not just fighting for a piece of land there.
There's something about a physical book
There is both comfort and exhilaration to be derived from a physical book. The solidity of a book reassures us that answers exist, in a way that a virtual library, with no dimensions except an abstract sense of depth, cannot.
The catch-22 of being a Jyotirmoy Dey
India, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, ranks 13th in the world on the Impunity Index which measures the degree to which a country can’t or won’t bring the killers of reporters to justice.
The man who painted India: What Husain was all about
Labeled as an anarchist of sorts, ironically, Husain's best paintings are nationalist emblems of an India forming its own identity in the wake of Independence.
The most dangerous place for intrepid journalists is home
As Jyotirmoy Dey's killing demonstrates, local journalists on their daily beat, with no flak jackets or armed bodyguards, are more at risk than their counterparts in war zones. Here's how his killing can be avenged...
Why I love Lady Gaga: an Indian woman's ode to liberation
A twenty-something explains why the pop star offers a liberating role model in a culture obsessed with hot Bollywood beauties.
The God Market: Meet the gurus of karma capitalism
The new tribe of Indian god-men like Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar combine business savvy with a soft Hindutva, making them irresistible to upwardly mobile Indians around the world.
Why writers fight: A guide to global literary feuds
VS Naipaul’s 15-year-long tiff with author and former protégé Paul Theroux, ended with a handshake at the Hay Festival between the two. We scrutinise how and why writers quarrel with each other.
Two visions of Shangri-La: Bhutan vs Los Angeles
A young woman from Bhutan, "the happiest place on earth," visits Los Angeles, the world's dream factory and wonders if happiness can come out of a dishwasher.