Features

The Facebook Illusion

Shubhangi Swarup

You can save the world, become a farmer, have 5,000 friends, be the centrefold model who can goggle a billion eyes on the internet… but none of it is true

“Atmosphere not conducive for talks”

Rahul Pandita

Maoist supreme commander Mupalla Laxman Rao, alias Ganapathi, responds to Open's questionnaire. An unabridged version of his written responses

India Gains, Desis Don’t

Hartosh Singh Bal

Candidates of Indian origin who go the ‘American way’ do better than those who don’t

The Congress and Its Fear of Elections

Dhirendra K. Jha

Even Rahul Gandhi can’t get the party to shed its nomination culture

10,000 Blinds and Bluffing

Isha Singh Sawhney

Inside a chi-chi Diwali gambling party

The Off-key Notes of a Sena Scion

Rahul Pandita

Doing one thing and saying another is the signature tune of the Thackeray family. Take a look at young Aditya Thackeray’s record

Rail, Road, Rahul

Jatin Gandhi

Nitish is cruising on development, Lalu is peddling a turnaround story, Rahul is planning for the future, and everyone else seems to be shunning ‘Modi’

The Marxists’ Private Army

Jaideep Mazumdar

The CPM denies it, but out in the wilderness there is evidence that the party is raising a militia armed to the teeth. “No guns in photos,” were the handlers’ orders to us

It’s one of the most audacious auditing attempts on earth, putting nature on the balance sheet. Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UN Green Economy Initiative in Nagoya talks about India’s move towards a natural wealth economy

Parody Central

Shougat Dasgupta

What Obama has done to America is visible in what its comedians are saying. Take, for example, two avowedly apolitical rallies recently held in the US capital