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THE WEEK India Magazine - November 09, 2025

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In this issue

COVER STORY As Bihar heads into a crucial election, Tejashwi Yadav is wooing the restless youth with promises of employment, while the ruling NDA banks on Nitish Kumar’s loyal base of women voters to see him through what many believe could be his last political battle EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW “We will make sure no one from Bihar needs to migrate”: Tejashwi Yadav, RJD chairman CURRENT EVENTS With ministers mired in controversies, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis prepares for a tough appraisal of his team UNTOLD STORIES Padma Shri surgeon Dr Raj Bothra, who spent 1,301 days in prison, recalls his battle against the American justice system @LEISURE INTERVIEW “Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy is lived, felt and practised in our daily lives”: Sundaram Tagore, gallerist

Conmen and other lovable rascals-II

A year ago, this column discussed why we love felons. That was after two convicts escaped by scaling the walls of a Haridwar jail, wearing monkey costumes. The jailers sat and watched, thinking they were watching Ramlila. As discussed then, there is a charming ingenuity about such rascality. Look at the number of films that have been churned out about jewel thieves, jail-breakers, conmen, train robbers and bank robbers—from the old wagon heists of the American Wild West and The Great Train Robbery of England to our Dev Anand’s Jewel Thief, MGR’s Ninaithadhai Mudippavan, Dharmendra’s Shalimar, Bachchan's Mr. Natwarlal, Sholay, and several recent Akshay Kumar films. The heroes conned tycoons, hoodwinked landlords, sneaked out of prisons, robbed banks, stole jewels and our hearts. All men of ingenuity and a lovable streak of daredevilry.

2 mins

UTTAR PRADESH FESTIVAL, FAITH, & TRADITION

Uttar Pradesh resonates with a civilizational evolution for millennia on the banks of the holy rivers like the Ganga, Yamuna, Saryu and it is tributaries. Led by Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, the state has launched a slew of initiatives for preserving, protecting and promoting the state's invaluable tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The world watches this incredible renaissance of soft power with awe.

3 mins

Cleaning the cabinet

With ministers courting controversy, Fadnavis gets ready for a tough review of his team

3 mins

The cortex

The cortex is the brain’s stage and its spotlight, a wrinkled sheet of grey matter where everything that makes us human performs. It is thin, standing only a few millimetres tall, and yet, it holds our language, laughter, memories, dreams, passwords, and grudges. Beneath it lies machinery; above it, personality. It's the surface that thinks. If the brain were Mumbai, the cortex would be South Bombay—dense, opinionated, elegant, and convinced it runs the place.

2 mins

LEFT WITH A RIFT

ON OCTOBER 27, 1946, coir workers and agricultural labourers from the rural hamlet of Vayalar in present-day Alappuzha district—mobilised by the Communist Party of India (CPI) and armed with rudimentary weapons—rose against the might of the Travancore princely state. They were protesting against the autocratic rule of diwan Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, the de facto ruler who sought to keep Travancore out of the Indian Union.

5 mins

Ritual of inquiry

Commissions set up in the aftermath of tragedies rarely bring about reform

4 mins

MANDAL VERSUS MILLENNIAL

As Bihar heads into a crucial election, Tejashwi Yadav is wooing the restless youth with promises of employment, while the ruling NDA banks on Nitish Kumar's loyal base of women voters to see him through what many believe could be his last political battle

9 mins

Unemployment, as an issue, is often exaggerated

Q Nitish Kumar has promised one crore government jobs. Unemployment remains a major election issue. How do you see that?

2 mins

What we have today is 'maha jungle raj'

What do you think is the biggest issue in this election?

1 mins

We will make sure no one from Bihar needs to migrate

AFTER WEEKS OF BACKROOM negotiations, the grand alliance announced Tejashwi Yadav, 35, as its chief ministerial candidate, making him the principal challenger in the Bihar assembly election. The RJD's star campaigner and inheritor of his father's social justice legacy, Tejashwi has broadened his appeal to include jobs and development—what he calls “economic justice”.

6 mins

Gandhi family is India's Gabbar Singh; in Bihar, it is Lalu Prasad's family

AMONG THE CURRENT breed of BJP leaders in Bihar, Samrat Choudhary stands the tallest.

5 mins

Old ways, new roads

An emerging generation of leaders attempts to build politics around development, while still navigating caste realities

2 mins

THE PAST IS PRESENT

From Ashoka to Jarasandha, ancient emperors and mythic heroes are being recast through caste lines

5 mins

Identity assertion is still largely Limited to political and social spaces

Normally, no—it’s definitely a later construct.

2 mins

GOING FOR THE KILL

New assault gun underlines change in Indian military's operational doctrine

6 mins

WHEN HEALER TURNED FIGHTER

A Padma Shri surgeon who spent 1,301 days in prison recalls his battle against the American justice system

6 mins

Rabindranath Tagore's legacy is lived, felt and practised in our daily lives

5 mins

When life gives you DDLJ

No creativity-enhancing pill in the market can do the trick as well as watching Hindi films without subtitles

2 mins

Made to measure

Madhav Agasti's memoir, like the clothes he has stitched for actors and politicians, is a 'fitting' tribute to his life—simple yet powerful

4 mins

The bullshit detector

You don’t know how to use ChatGPT?” Ekya asked incredulously, her eyes wide as saucers. “Nana, everyone uses AI. I even got Waldo to help with some of my class assignments.”

3 mins

Halting immigration, hunting talent

This month, the Henley global passport index, which ranks the clout of nations' citizenship, offered a quiet but telling signal about shifting global soft power. For the first time in two decades, the United States passport slipped out of the world's top ten, and is now ranked twelfth—alongside Malaysia. The US economy is robust, its military reach unmatched, and its diplomacy visible from Gaza to the Indo-Pacific. Yet something deeper has changed—an erosion of the magnetism that once made US citizenship the world's most powerful.

2 mins

Read all Stories from THE WEEK India

THE WEEK India Magazine Description:

Publisher: Malayala-Manorama

Category: News

Language: English

Frequency: Weekly

THE WEEK is an Indian English-language news magazine published by The Malayala Manorama Co. Pvt. Ltd. It was founded in 1982 and is the largest circulated English news magazine in India.

THE WEEK covers a wide range of topics, including politics, business, society, and culture. The magazine is known for its in-depth reporting and its balanced coverage of the news.

THE WEEK has won numerous awards, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism and the National Magazine Award for General Excellence.

Here are some of the features of THE WEEK India Magazine:

* In-depth reporting: THE WEEK's reporters go the extra mile to bring you the latest news and analysis.

* Balanced coverage: THE WEEK's editors strive to present all sides of the story.

* Compelling storytelling: THE WEEK's writers tell stories that will stay with you long after you've finished reading them.

* Thought-provoking opinion: THE WEEK's columnists challenge you to think about the world in new ways.

* Engaging visuals: THE WEEK's photography and design make the magazine visually appealing.

THE WEEK is a must-read for anyone interested in Indian politics, business, and society.