Editorial Note, Mar -Apr, 2024
As this issue is being prepared for print, India is in the midst of an election which many see as a battle between forces that want to undermine and want to save the Idea of India as formulated by the…
Jawaharlal Nehru in Our Past, Present and Future
As all of you are aware, the Idea of India is deeply threatened today and the discipline of history is being mauled beyond recognition and weaponised to destroy the Idea of India by religious communal forces, which not only did…
Visions of Hindu Identity and Indian Nationalism
In this essay I address the emergence and growth of the Hindu identity in late colonial Punjab, giving special attention to the participation of Lala Lajpat Rai both as an ideologue and activist in the context of the shifts taking…
Evolution of Ram Sharan Sharma as a Historical Materialist: The Little-Known First Chapter
No scientist has always been right, and therefore, science does not defer to authority. What must remain sacrosanct, instead, is observed data, in so far as it is collected accurately, and the scientific methodology in all its rigour. (The Indian…
Life Skills for Adolescent Girls in Himachal Pradesh: A Critical Evaluation
The adolescent period is often described as exhibiting high energy, enthusiasm, and a willingness to engage in novel experiences. The phenomenon is characterised by notable changes in cognitive and behavioural patterns, particularly concerning interpersonal interactions. The adolescent population of a…
OBITUARY – R. Champakalakshmi (1932–2024)
On 2 February 2024, a Tamil-speaking IT professional based in the United States, who produced and edited Wikipedia pages in his free time, called me over phone. He had read the obituary I had written in The Wire for historian…
Book Review : Mandela and the Revolutionaries,
Paul S. Landau, Spear: Mandela and the Revolutionaries, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2022, 412 pages. The present book, Spear: Mandela and the Revolutionaries by Paul S. Landau, is meant primarily for that section of academia which is willing to approach…