History offers a compelling paradox: sometimes, true strength in leadership lies not in unwavering success but in the courage to acknowledge failure.One such instance unfolded in Maharashtra during the late 1980s. The Shetkari Sanghatana, under the leadership of Sharad Joshi,...

In 2007, contributors to the documentary series Why Democracy? visited several countries to understand various facets of “rule by the people”. Documentary filmmaker and academic Lalit Vachani directed the Indian instalment, In Search of Gandhi. Vachani is now among the...

Orpheus in MadrasI’m trying to remember the last time I saw a dead body. Not the bodies that are unfolding daily on our screens, being killed elsewhere on a scale that is terrifying. Not genocidal death, but singular death. Death...

Lōal Kashmir: Love and Longing in a Torn Land by Mehak Jamal is unlike any book I’ve read about Kashmir. It does not directly document war, resistance, or politics, but instead, it lingers in the quiet, often unspoken world of...

Can you prove you are an Indian citizen? I’m not sure I can.So, I can only imagine what those without my privileges must endure in new India – plucked from homes or workplaces, their proof of identity dismissed, homes demolished,...