Another Day HT Image Autumn was to have been the season of hope; a time for words and ideas, listening and learning. A time for the Harud (autumn) literature festival which would have made Srinagar join that membership of cities in the region that host lit fests – Jaipur, Kovalam, Karachi, Galle, and Thimpu. Kashmir is a long way from Jaipur where the same organizers, Teamwork Films have managed to achieve such iconic status that hardboiled journalists like Tina Brown call it the ‘greatest literary show on earth’. It was also at Jaipur this year where the organizers attempted a…

The government’s attitude to private healthcare is crippling. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image Two days ago, Vijay, who works with me as a driver, came to me in tears. His wife was seriously ill. He had to rush to the village where she lives, and he needed a loan. Where had she been admitted, I asked. “Private mein,” came the reply. Vijay embodies many of the statistics on healthcare: 80% of India’s healthcare expenditure comes from private sources; government spends a pathetic 0.9% of our GDP on healthcare (compared to Brazil’s 3%) and medical expenses are a big reason for…

Parliament must rise more often — every day in fact — to preserve its sanctity HT Image Outside there was passion and intensity; inside reason and erudition. Outside, cries of Vande Mataram and invocations to Anna Hazare. Inside, references to history and invocations to the Constitution. Outside, angry people feeding soundbites to insatiable TV cameras. Inside, ideologically opposed men on Right and Left arguing calmly for the dignity of office. The contrast couldn’t have been starker, or more ironical. On a day when public anger against corruption was spreading from town to town, a different sort of battle, but also…

While we raise children to be independent, why is it so difficult to let them go? Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image It didn’t hit me until I saw my dog. Now if you’ve never seen my dog Nigel, there is no way you could possibly know that he is the fattest, laziest Labrador ever. But that day, just one week before departure, he heard the bell ring and ran to the door to greet my elder daughter, Teesta. Ran? I was startled. Nigel never runs. Had he guessed that a week from now she would be leaving home for college?…

We will probably never know the whole truth about what provoked 31 Indian women hockey players to sign a letter backing charges of sexual harassment against their coach, MK Kaushik. But if hockey’s sleazy story taught me one thing, it is this: women athletes are expected to wash their coach’s clothes, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image We will probably never know the whole truth about what provoked 31 Indian women hockey players to sign a letter backing charges of sexual harassment against their coach, MK Kaushik. But if hockey’s sleazy story taught me one thing, it is this: women athletes…

When Mohamed ElBaradei stood up to speak at the HT Leadership Summit in 2007, he began by praising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image When Mohamed ElBaradei stood up to speak at the HT Leadership Summit in 2007, he began by praising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Known then as the former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rather than a presidential challenger, ElBaradei declared that Singh was the “model of what a political leader should be”. As leadership change gets underway in Egypt, it is unlikely that ElBaradei will be looking to Singh for inspiration.…

From facing a penalty, forfeiting match fee, and facing charges of intimidating an umpire, Harbhajan Singh now does a volte-face and plays victim over a UB ad, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image Ah, yes, let’s see. This is the same gentleman who got away with charges of racism by calling his opponent a ‘monkey’. Oh, said an injured Harbhajan Singh back in 2008, he had never called Andrew Symonds a monkey. He had merely used that common expression favoured by macho men who live north of the Vindhyas: maa ki….Symonds (who in case you hadn’t noticed is of African descent) heard…

Karnataka education minister Visheshwar Hegde Kageri wants every Indian to respect the Bhagavad Gita – or leave. “Only those who love to adopt western culture can oppose the Gita. Such persons may well quit the country,” the minister is reported to have said. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image Karnataka education minister Visheshwar Hegde Kageri wants every Indian to respect the Bhagavad Gita – or leave. “Only those who love to adopt western culture can oppose the Gita. Such persons may well quit the country,” the minister is reported to have said. The timing – just as his boss BS Yeddyurappa,…

Every high-profile judgment does not merit a public uproar. Namita Bhandare notes. HT Image Looking at our reaction to the Maria Susairaj-Emile Jerome judgement, I have a suggestion to make. Let’s dismantle the judiciary, turn courthouses into museums and pack off judges to retirement homes. After all, with media stalwarts aided by such civil society gems as Mahesh Bhatt, Suhel Seth etc doing such a great job of trying and sentencing cases, why bother with mere judges? Hours after a sessions court judge ruled guilty — Maria for destroying evidence and Jerome for culpable homicide — and handing down the…

The arrest of a Gurgaon businessman for abusing his servant, an eight-year-old boy, should have brought with it some debate on the status and treatment of domestic workers in urban India, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image The arrest of a Gurgaon businessman for abusing his servant, an eight-year-old boy, should have brought with it some debate on the status and treatment of domestic workers in urban India. It did not. Predictably, the issue was ignored by most mainstream media as a page three snippet. Equally predictably, the businessman was out on bail in a matter of hours, despite the twin…

Last year heads had turned when a tall, slim and elegant woman turned up at the Mountain Echoes literary festival in Thimphu, Bhutan. HT Image Last year heads had turned when a tall, slim and elegant woman turned up at the Mountain Echoes literary festival in Thimphu, Bhutan. When the Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck (a writer who is also the festival’s patron), escorted this young woman to the front row, necks craned further: who was this woman? Was it true that she was going to be the next queen of Bhutan? Last week, 31-year-old King Jigme Khesar Namgyal…

Post the 2G scam, India can either be a banana republic or rise above the mess. The choice is ours, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image As temperatures dip in the Capital, there is a strange whiff in the air. It’s not the smoky smell of wood fire around which chowkidars huddle at night. It’s another odour altogether. It’s the stink of corruption that will not be cleansed. HT Image No matter how many Ashok Chavans are given marching orders, no matter how many Suresh Kalmadis are snubbed, no matter how many A Rajas are dropped, the prevailing stench of something…