Santosh Desai VOICES
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The Leaky Bucket
December 28, 2009, 1:42 PM IST
It’s raining leaks. Whether it is the Headley case, the Liberhan report, the internal goings-on in the BJP, political manoeuvring in the BCCI, we get our information as consumers of media through leaks. We knew…
December 28, 2009, 1:42 PM IST
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The Vajpayee Enigma
December 28, 2009, 1:29 PM IST
The reaction to the inclusion of Vajpayee among those seen as complicit in the Babri Masjid demolition in the Liberhan report has underlined the unique place he enjoys in Indian political imagination today. Commentators, including…
December 28, 2009, 1:29 PM IST
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Narrowing the idea of Entertainment
December 20, 2009, 2:56 PM IST
A few weeks ago, at a media function, actor Aamir Khan and writer Javed Akhtar, arguably two of Indian cinema’s most thoughtful representatives, had an interesting discussion. When asked about the social responsibility of a…
December 20, 2009, 2:56 PM IST
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Bajaj scooter & passing of the middle class
December 12, 2009, 3:41 PM IST
The demise of Bajaj scooter represents a passing of not only an era but a consciousness. Nothing captured the complex reality of existence in Middle India better than this hybrid creature that offered mobility and…
December 12, 2009, 3:41 PM IST
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Ruled by Anniversaries
December 7, 2009, 2:11 AM IST
Suddenly we are outraged about the Bhopal disaster. For the last few years, Bhopal has not even been a blip on our radars, having outlived its utility as a story that delivered any stimulation to…
December 7, 2009, 2:11 AM IST
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The Paradox of Retribution
November 29, 2009, 9:55 AM IST
The trouble is that with the Masjid gone, there is nothing to rail against, no flag to fly under. The ability of the idea of Hindutva to rally sections of society, particularly when it comes to elections appears to have weakened considerably.
November 29, 2009, 9:55 AM IST
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What we don’t mock anymore
November 22, 2009, 7:03 PM IST
Have we lost our ability to mock people, to see through those who posture and preen and puncture these pretensions with a dose of sardonic irony? We seem to live in a time when we…
November 22, 2009, 7:03 PM IST
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Justice of the powerful
November 15, 2009, 11:22 PM IST
Thank god for the media. Without its intervention, Manu Sharma would have availed of a free pass for two months to visit more night clubs and get into more brawls. But once he was spotted…
November 15, 2009, 11:22 PM IST
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Dismantling Our Heroes
November 9, 2009, 12:11 AM IST
Sachin Tendulkar is a hero twice over. He is a hero in the conventional sense in that he slays monsters and makes the impossible look effortless. But in an age where the very idea of…
November 9, 2009, 12:11 AM IST
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Nostalgia for the modern
November 1, 2009, 10:56 PM IST
It is an odd feeling. Things that signified modernity, that helped usher in a new era, are now turning that age when one starts becoming nostalgic about them. As liberalization turns 25, we move into…
November 1, 2009, 10:56 PM IST
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Naxalism breeds in India’s invisible interiors
October 25, 2009, 4:04 PM IST
There is something very daunting about flying over India. I find myself always amazed at its vastness and the sparseness of its population. Now we all know that India is a large country but our…
October 25, 2009, 4:04 PM IST
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In the name of Gandhi…
October 18, 2009, 6:33 PM IST
In an interview, Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson reportedly told this story about his grandfather. One day when he was coming back from school, he threw away a small pencil that had almost been used…
October 18, 2009, 6:33 PM IST
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Sport as Commerce
October 11, 2009, 7:42 PM IST
Is the end of one day cricket as we have known it so far nigh? The argument against it seems clear enough- T-20 cricket is what gets the eyeballs, and Test cricket needs to be…
October 11, 2009, 7:42 PM IST
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The Fear of Immortality
October 3, 2009, 7:00 PM IST
Ray Kurzweil, who is a respected futurist, has recently predicted that in another twenty years, we might reach a stage when we could live forever. What’s more, by reversing ageing, we could be both ageless…
October 3, 2009, 7:00 PM IST
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The Power of the Surname
September 27, 2009, 6:57 PM IST
The power of a surname is never more evident than in the case of the most famous surname in India. As if being Nehrus was not enough, Indira Priyadarshini’s marriage to Feroze Gandhi, gave the…
September 27, 2009, 6:57 PM IST
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Falling into the austerity trap
September 20, 2009, 8:33 PM IST
Why does the austerity issue generate so much interest? Forests have been destroyed with the paper used to write about this subject, and economy with words has certainly not been the driving motivation behind these…
September 20, 2009, 8:33 PM IST
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The other side of education
September 13, 2009, 10:03 PM IST
Perhaps, nothing in the world receives as much unanimous endorsement as the idea of education. We see it as a fundamental human need, nay right, and strive to ensure that our children get the best…
September 13, 2009, 10:03 PM IST
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The Two Nation Dilemma
September 7, 2009, 9:59 AM IST
The current debate around Jinnah and his role in dividing India points to how differently the same event in history can be read by different people. But while there is considerable disagreement among various groups…
September 7, 2009, 9:59 AM IST
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The irrelevance of truth
August 30, 2009, 11:21 PM IST
The current fascination with the past is an interesting departure from our otherwise all-consuming obsession with the present. Suddenly, political careers seem to be made or destroyed (more of the latter actually) because of one’s…
August 30, 2009, 11:21 PM IST
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Enacting Our Lives
August 24, 2009, 5:24 AM IST
The current interest in reality television throws up some interesting questions about the difference between what is real and what is staged. We often ask as to whether an actor having enacted the scene of…
August 24, 2009, 5:24 AM IST
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