Cover Story

The Screen and the Mirror

Vani Tripathi Tikoo

After seven decades of highs and lows, Indian cinema has a golden opportunity to go global

In Praise of the Sceptic

Madhavankutty Pillai

In a world increasingly painted in black-and-white, the questioning of sacrosanct ideas becomes ever more important

The Menon Métier

Shashi Tharoor

What was it about VK Krishna Menon?

Gandhi’s Shadow

Tridip Suhrud

Living in the company of impending greatness

Enter the Expert

Shrayana Bhattacharya

Has the pandemic made the elite and empathy incompatible?

The End of Inevitability

TCA Raghavan

The linear narrative of India’s freedom struggle and its unrealised possibilities

Editor’s Note

S Prasannarajan

The new culture wars and the limits of dissent

Kashi Vishwanath Temple: The Grand Makeover

Ullekh NP

One no longer has to crane one’s neck to see the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. It now has ample breathing space and can be viewed from afar. The ₹ 900 crore Kashi Vishwanath Dham project is being executed against great odds

The Re-Hinduisation of India

PR Ramesh

The Kashi Vishwanath Dham project is the biggest attempt at India’s civilisational restoration since the rebuilding of the Somnath temple. It seeks to reconnect ordinary Hindus with their spiritual roots

Smriti Irani: The Spellbinder

Kaveree Bamzai

She was television’s favourite daughter-in-law. She carved out her space at the top of Indian politics. And now she turns writer with a thriller set in the Maoist heartland. How Smriti Irani juggles the many hats of her life