The Low-Stakes Compassion of College Students
Hamas has the most sophisticated defence system. It uses Palestinian civilians as shield. It wants many of them to die. David Brooks, in his column in the New York Times, wrote, “Hamas’s survival depends on support in the court of international opinion.” This was always the strategy of Hamas. If terrorists have powerful uses for […]
Indian Parents are Raising Rahuls, not Modis
From what I gather, Rahul Gandhi is a good man. There is something banal about his good nature, which is exactly how goodness resides in most sane people. As a decent man, he is aware of his luck. Seven years ago he said: “My father was in politics. My grandmother and great-grandfather were in politics. So, it was easy for me to […]
‘Neuroscientists’ Don’t Know the Mind at all
If a guy has ‘neuro’ in his bio, he can say just about anything about the mind, as though he knows what it is. Andrew Huberman is a beneficiary. He is also from Stanford, so conditions were perfect for him to begin a podcast about that thing people hyphenate with confidence: ‘mind-body.’ He used expressions […]
Who Applies to be an Indian Nuclear Scientist
The fuss around the film ‘Oppenheimer’ gives me a chance to recount what happened when I set out, in 2006, to find out who exactly is an Indian nuclear scientist. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai is a sprawling reservoir of India’s nuclear programme that stands on the edge of a creek, shrouded by mangroves and […]
The Democratization of Thinness
Across the world, a wonder drug is helping the rich lose weight without the inconvenience of putting in an effort. As a result, Semaglutide, a string of amino acids created by a Danish pharma giant to reduce blood sugar, is democratizing thinness. What was once possible only for people with resolve, lovers of fitness, austere-eaters, […]
The Future of Friendships in the Age of Opinions
I used to be friends with people who had a moral compass, but I lost many of them after they started reading my column. I still know a few, like a young journalist named Nidhi Suresh, even though she has been thinking of getting rid of some friends. It is the times. She was in […]
Now That the Hindus Have Won
In the days leading up to January 22, I could not sense any genuine mass euphoria among temple-going Hindus over the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. There was a sense of importance attached to the day, like an approaching festivity, and few had any quarrel with the government for goading them to observe […]
Why the Brahmins of Kerala Became Christians
Now and then, when this column irritates a type of patriots, they call me “rice bag” on X.com. By this, they imply that I had converted to Christianity in exchange for a bag of rice offered by a missionary. I am offended by this high-carb insult; I would rather be accused of renouncing my religion […]
What Would Destroy the BJP (in the Future)
Many politicians across India who are not with the Bharatiya Janata Party live in fear of imprisonment, chiefly for corruption or old crimes. It is odd because, until recently, it was uncommon for politicians in India to be so vulnerable to the justice system. They were protected by an unspoken code. To the extent it […]
Our Children Who Are Not Trained to Suffer
YOU have moved up the social rungs if you do not know anyone who has made it to the Indian Institutes of Technology this year, or to the Indian Administrative Service. Once, this hypothesis was true only if you did not know a national-grade athlete personally, or a man who can bowl faster than 130 […]