The strong leader was a beguiling idea, and Modi was hovering over India, reminding us of the price we had paid for tolerating a weakling for ten years
It is cool to be a leader with a dash of emotionalism. There are occasions when shedding tears—or holding them back—in front of television cameras is the right thing to do.
The most audacious journey in the politics of India comes to a historic finale as Narendra Modi, a lone man on a mission, inherits an India transformed by his ideas of modernity
The lamentation of Romila Thapar, our most venerable historian, is understandable: philistines have come to dominate the political space. The age of the philosopher king is gone; today it is all about spin and sound bites.
TCA Raghavan is a former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and Singapore. His first book, Attendant Lords: Abdur Rahim and Bairam Khan: Courtiers and Poets in Mughal India, was awarded the Mohammad Habib Prize by the Indian History Congress. He is also the author of The People Next Door: The Curious History of India’s Relations with Pakistan and History Men: Jadunath Sarkar, G S Sardesai, Raghubir Sinh and Their Quest for India’s Past. His latest book is Circles of Freedom: Love, Friendship and Loyalty in the Indian National Struggle