The forces of Hindutva have always tried to hunt down Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy. He represents the undoing of all that the RSS–BJP stand for, i.e. modernism, secularism and an inclusive form of nationalism. Nehru represents that current of Indian anti-colonial…
Recently, I shared a snap of the Poorna Swaraj at social network, a couple of people from academics and news media questioned the association of MK Gandhi with the Poorna Swaraj. They immediately asked a set of questions about the…
Biswamoy Pati, Tribals and Dalits in Orissa: Towards a Social History of Exclusion, c. 1800–1950, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2019, xvi+222 pages, Rs 945 The book under review is the finale of a lifetime of Biswamoy Pati’s extraordinary publishing…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
It wasn’t a radical film by any definition of radical that existed at the time. The maker himself was clearly a radical figure. The first impression of Kumar Shahani was always that of frailty. A pronounced limp, sharp eyes and…
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…