(The article was originally published in Indian Express on October 21, 2023 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.) It has been two weeks since the deadly attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas resulted in the death of hundreds of Israelis on Sukkot — a Jewish harvest […]
Ram Madhav
Babasaheb’s Conversion
(The article was originally published in Indian Express on October 14, 2023 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.) Sixty-seven years ago, on October 14, 1956, just seven weeks before his demise, B R Ambedkar — architect of the Indian Constitution and leader of the Depressed Classes — […]
Leading the Global South
(The article was originally published in OPEN Magazine on October 13, 2023. Views expressed are personal.) TWENTY-TWO YEARS AGO, in 2001, when Terence James O’Neill, popularly known as Jim O’Neill, authored a paper titled ‘The World Needs Better Economic BRICs’ and predicted that the four emerging economies—Brazil, Russia, India and China—would register GDP growth that […]
Rahul Gandhi doesn’t get Hinduism
(The article was originally published in Indian Express on October 6, 2023 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.) It was interesting to read Rahul Gandhi’s soliloquy on Hinduism and its inner meaning in these pages last week. He articulated a version of Hinduism centred around his pet […]
Gandhi and Ambedkar, Then and Now
(The article was originally published in Indian Express on September 30, 2023 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.) Gandhi is indispensable. You may love him or hate him, but you can’t ignore him. Escorting the world leaders attending the G-20 summit to the Gandhi Smriti, the black […]
Ball Is In Canada’s Court
(The article was originally published in Indian Express on September 23, 2023 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.) Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, is a troubled man these days. Domestic unpopularity and international marginalisation are haunting him. Ten years ago, when he rose to the leadership […]
Misreading Hinduism
(The article was originally published in Indian Express on September 16, 2023 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.) Hindu- or Sanatan-phobia, which the Hindu American Foundation in the US describes as a “set of antagonistic, destructive, and derogatory attitudes and behaviours” towards Sanatan Dharma, is a disorder […]
A living document
(The article was originally published in Indian Express on September 9, 2023 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.) Soon we are going to move into the new Parliament building. The iconic old building was where 299 members of the Constituent Assembly of India toiled for over two […]
Modi’s Moment
(The article was originally published in OPEN Magazine on September 7, 2023. Views expressed are personal.) US PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN was “disappointed” that Chinese President Xi Jinping is not attending the G20 summit in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi need not be. Instead, he should now use the forum to effectively articulate his vision […]
Spirituality with Science
(The article was originally published in Indian Express on September 2, 2023 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.) Was it right for the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 scientists’ team to visit temples? Wasn’t it against the scientific temper expected of them? Social media was agog with animated debates over […]