Open Magazine - Top Stories

#Independence Day 2026: PM Modi Turbocharges Viksit Bharat, Signals the Politics Ahead
#Independence Day 2026: PM Modi Turbocharges Viksit Bharat, Signals the Politics Ahead
3 min read
From seven pillars for India’s march to 2047 to women’s reservation, youth and ‘mental Naxalism’, the Prime Minister used his Independence Day address to marry an ambitious development blueprint with ...
Always the Anthem: A new generation’s symbolic journey into the past
5 min read
This generation has its own relation­ship with the anthem. I simply hadn’t recognised it until I saw them stand and sing it.
The Sovereign and the Server: Indian’s Digital Freedom
9 min read
The government regulates it, foreign companies host it, and an Indian’s digital freedom sits in between
The Liberation Thali
8 min read
Will India keep the table large enough for another chair? Freedom, like the finest meal, is never meant to be consumed alone
Ruins to Resilience: The story of India’s financial freedom
2 min read
Financial freedom since Independence, then, is a tale of two arcs: a nation that moved from scarcity to scale, and citizens learning to harness markets, technology and discipline to claim their own ec ...
From Jungle Raj to World Trade Centre: Is Bihar rewriting its story as murder, robbery cases go down?
4 min read
Bihar says major crimes are falling, Naxal influence has been eliminated and policing is becoming more technology-driven. Now Patna is looking at a proposed World Trade Centre and a new urban future. ...
From Gadar to Dhurandhar: How Bollywood Gave Generations of Indians Their Language of Patriotism
4 min read
Bollywood has spent decades turning patriotism into dialogues that audiences can recite by heart. But how did some of them become part of everyday language?
H-1B Extension Fee Explained: Why US Firms May Still Choose to Keep Skilled Indian Workers
4 min read
A new USD 4,000 fee will hit certain H-1B extensions from September 9. But for companies that have already invested in an experienced worker, economists say the cost of replacing that talent could be ...
When India Took Its Freedom Fight to the Sky: The Kite’s Remarkable Journey From ‘Simon Go Back’ to August 15
4 min read
Nearly a century ago, Indians sent kites into the air carrying a message for their colonial rulers: ‘Simon Go Back’. Today, every Independence Day, those same skies fill with colour, competition and t ...
open magazine cover
14 Aug 2026 - Vol 05 | Issue 33

Freedom Issue 2026

Shashi Tharoor on being radical liberal | Ram Madhav on how Gandhi used his Hinduism | TCA Raghavan on a diplomat's travels in history | Sumana Roy on the novel beyond the Booker | Carlo Pizzati on the dissolution of Borders
Behold Gandhi the Hindu: How Sanatana Dharma Shaped India’s Independence Movement and Nationalism
Testament of a Radical Liberal
Freedom Issue 2026: Editor's Note
The Capital of Mobilisation: Delhi and the unfinished argument of the Republic