Arts & Letters

The Hypocrisy of Indian Designers

Kallol Datta

Indian designers treat runway shows as entertainment. What they show on the ramp, they dare not sell in their stores

Beastly Tales from Cover to Cover

The assumption that all animal stories are children’s stories is an odd one. Two recent books, by Nilanjana Roy and Musharraf and Michelle Farooqi, remind us that many of our best-loved stories that feature animals have engaged children as much as they have intrigued adult readers

Behind the Boom

Akash Kapur

The economic transitions of India that bewilders

Ruin of the Congress

Hartosh Singh Bal

As two recent books tell us, India’s most charismatic leader, Indira Gandhi, has left a debilitating effect on the party. Rahul’s efforts to shelve personality-driven politics only bewilders it

Pakistan’s TV Warriors

Rajendra Bajpai

Pakistan’s new media is fearlessly taking on India bashers and those distorting history in ways that would have been seen as unpatriotic a few years ago.

The Metro Magnet

Amrita Tripathi

Delhi’s upper middle-class has never cared to be seen rubbing shoulders with the city’s plebeians who use public transport. Which is why it’s so surprising to see how well they have taken to the Metro

How My Conscience Was Abducted in Dantewada

Akshay Pathak

In the garb of social responsibility, the Essar Group recently organised a storytelling festival for the ‘benefit’ of children in this Maoist-dense area. Apart from the organisers’ poorly disguised disdain for local artistes, what emerged most starkly was the stench of corporate propaganda