Who decides what is nationalism and how best it is to be displayed? For some, standing up for the national anthem is tokenism; for others it is a sacred duty. For some, our flag and national anthem are the glues of nationhood; for others, nationalism is best expressed through being good citizens Who decides what is nationalism and how best it is to be displayed?(HT File Photo) In 2009, months after the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, Ram Gopal Varma made a film called Rann. A critique of media’s insatiable appetite for TRPs, the movie’s title track was a remix…

Language must evolve, not regress to a point where even 140-character tweets seem like essays. What an emoji says to me is this: I’m too lazy to type out thank you or sorry or well done. I’m too unsure about whether I can express myself without a symbol. They’re everywhere. The text you send about a change in plans and the selfie you receive after a 5K run. Mercifully, neither the downcast face nor the thumbs up are tagged on the email from my bank credit card. But the emojis — a dress and pair of shoes — seem inevitable…

Language must evolve, not regress to a point where even 140-character tweets seem like essays. What an emoji says to me is this: I’m too lazy to type out thank you or sorry or well done. I’m too unsure about whether I can express myself without a symbol. Language must evolve, not regress to a point where even 140-character tweets seem like essays. What an emoji says to me is this: I’m too lazy to type out thank you or sorry or well done. I’m too unsure about whether I can express myself without a symbol.(AFP Photo) They’re everywhere. The…

Perhaps I have been watching far too many intolerant nightly debates on our lack of tolerance, which tend to wear me down with their decibel level and leave me no wiser. In the words of a friend, I am suffering from intolerance fatigue. Filmmaker Anand Patwardhan showing his national award which he is returning in protest against the growing intolerance around the nation.(Hindustan Times) Walking along the hills near Shimla, schoolgirls in pigtails greet me with a shy ‘good morning’. In the market, the response to my rushed demand for provisions is replied by a smiling ‘namaste’. It takes a…

Perhaps I have been watching far too many intolerant nightly debates on our lack of tolerance, which tend to wear me down with their decibel level and leave me no wiser. In the words of a friend, I am suffering from intolerance fatigue. Walking along the hills near Shimla, schoolgirls in pigtails greet me with a shy ‘good morning’. In the market, the response to my rushed demand for provisions is replied by a smiling ‘namaste’. It takes a second for me to realise that I’m inhaling not just the crisp mountain air, but a quality now rare on the…

Across the country from Dadri to Faridabad, Moodbidri to Udhampur, there’s a deep sense of unease at events spiralling out of control. Writers feel it, sociologists believe it and the president is concerned enough to have to publicly address it repeatedly in the course of a month. Bajrang Dal activists agitate in Jammu. The spectacle of intolerance has become a daily sight in Indian society now.(HT Photo) Across the country from Dadri to Faridabad, Moodbidri to Udhampur, there’s a deep sense of unease at events spiralling out of control. Writers feel it, sociologists believe it and the president is concerned…

Across the country from Dadri to Faridabad, Moodbidri to Udhampur, there’s a deep sense of unease at events spiralling out of control. Writers feel it, sociologists believe it and the president is concerned enough to have to publicly address it repeatedly in the course of a month. Across the country from Dadri to Faridabad, Moodbidri to Udhampur, there’s a deep sense of unease at events spiralling out of control. Writers feel it, sociologists believe it and the president is concerned enough to have to publicly address it repeatedly in the course of a month. The BJP would have you believe…

Readers wrote letters to the editor — and they still do — because they wanted to express an opinion, vent or just see their name in print. This was their space. In India, most editors agree, the art of letter writing has plummeted. Perhaps the imperative to win the argument in our polarised times has resulted in communication being replaced by polemic. Readers wrote letters to the editor — and they still do — because they wanted to express an opinion, vent or just see their name in print. This was their space. In India, most editors agree, the art…

Readers wrote letters to the editor — and they still do — because they wanted to express an opinion, vent or just see their name in print. This was their space. In India, most editors agree, the art of letter writing has plummeted. Perhaps the imperative to win the argument in our polarised times has resulted in communication being replaced by polemic. The fact that letters writing has declined might signal a preference for polemic, rather than constructive debates.(HT Photo) Readers wrote letters to the editor — and they still do — because they wanted to express an opinion, vent…

At a meeting earlier this month to discuss a draft bill of rights for women that Delhi’s AAP government wants to introduce, some women express their anxiety over the proliferation of CCTVs that the government has announced as a safety measure. CCTV surveillance of Sector 18 market to start from Friday, in Noida, India, on Tuesday, September 15, 2015. Sixty two high-end cameras have been installed at 24 locations.(Sunil Ghosh / HT Photo) At a meeting earlier this month to discuss a draft bill of rights for women that Delhi’s AAP government wants to introduce, some women express their anxiety…

At a meeting earlier this month to discuss a draft bill of rights for women that Delhi’s AAP government wants to introduce, some women express their anxiety over the proliferation of CCTVs that the government has announced as a safety measure. At a meeting earlier this month to discuss a draft bill of rights for women that Delhi’s AAP government wants to introduce, some women express their anxiety over the proliferation of CCTVs that the government has announced as a safety measure. Are there sufficient checks and balances to ensure that footage will not be misused as an excuse for…

The RSS’ antipathy to Nehru is well-known. There is a two-pronged attempt to downplay his iconography. The first is to broaden India’s pantheon of national icons — in this the BJP is right to redress a historical neglect by boosting such figures as Vallabhbhai Patel. But the second effort is to simply negate Nehru and his idea of a secular, pluralistic India The historian Ramachandra Guha tells an interesting story. Back in 1977 when the Janata government ended 30 years of Congress rule, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the recently appointed minister of external affairs, stepped into office at South Block and…