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Outlook
The Obituary that Took Me 30 Years to Write
When most of us were clueless about our ambitions in life, my classmate and best friend Samaresh Maitra announced, one hot day in April, that he wanted to become a goonda (gangsta) when he grew up.
3 min |
April 21, 2026
Outlook
Policing the Self
A democratic law on transgender rights would begin by trusting the person- recognising self-identification without bureaucratic mediation
7 min |
April 21, 2026
Outlook
Whatever Happened to the Voice of America?
War, once the defining moral crisis of American youth, no longer commands the same fire
6 min |
April 21, 2026
Outlook
Welfare Against Democracy
Among the four states where the election process has begun, three—Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal—present a striking picture of defiance; defiance directed at the style of politics associated with the Union government.
10+ min |
April 21, 2026
Outlook
Why This War?
Failure to stop the war will hurt not only the region, but the entire global economy
6 min |
April 21, 2026
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Assam is a Place for All
It was as much a political signal as a warning, as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said that if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returns to power, his government will “break the backbone” of “Miyas”.
5 min |
April 21, 2026
Outlook
Bullets in Persepolis
The deep-seated love of Iranians for their land and cultural roots is what remains at stake in a war where the aggressors threaten to eradicate an entire civilisation
8 min |
April 21, 2026
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Why the Elite Hate Freebies
The deeper question to ask is not whether India can afford welfare but what happens without it
6 min |
April 21, 2026
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Machinery Vs. Maths
As more than 27 lakh people have their democratic rights suspended, Amit Shah's 'Mission Bengal' aims to bulldoze all equations, but they may still have to fight the maths
7 min |
April 21, 2026
Outlook
War From an Ocean Away
In the many endings that I picture, my mother and Ali end up stranded on roads, separated in different cities, looking for their belongings in the rubble, or chewing some meagre bread to quell their hunger
6 min |
April 21, 2026
Outlook
The Dignity Turn
The political landscape of Kerala is undergoing subtle but important changes
6 min |
April 21, 2026
Outlook
Whose Development?
While disenchantment among Dalits and Adivasis in Kerala reflects a shift in the Left's orientation in the state towards an aspirational middle class, the unease among Muslims underscores the dilemmas of electoral balancing
6 min |
April 21, 2026
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Lebanon is in the Fog of War'
Even as the US, Israel and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, Lebanon remains outside the truce, with Israeli strikes continuing unabated.
8 min |
April 21, 2026
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The Gulf Widens
Caught between the fear of chaos and the fear of a stronger Iran, countries in West Asia confront a war with no safe ending
6 min |
April 21, 2026
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Bloodlines Against Soulness
The Transgender Persons Amendment Bill puts a question mark over the existence and identity of the queer community
6 min |
April 11, 2026
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Iron Iran
In the fourth week of the war on Iran, the issue has moved from regime change to the territorial integrity of the nation
5 min |
April 11, 2026
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Chennai Express
M.K. Stalin has succeeded in reframing the political contest in Tamil Nadu as one between Dravidianism and its ideological adversaries
8 min |
April 11, 2026
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The Discreet Charm of the Glitterati
As a thick mist envelops an abandoned ‘haveli’, a single lightman stands shining a light on an ethereal subject, who appears to be emerging from thin air.
4 min |
April 11, 2026
Outlook
Didi in Her Favourite Shoes
As the political spotlight shifts to Special Intensive Revision deletions, Mamata Banerjee gets a breather—instead of answering uncomfortable questions over her 15-year rule, she is getting to ask questions
8 min |
April 11, 2026
Outlook
The Right in the Left
For Pinarayi Vijayan, who has ruled Kerala's political stage for nearly three decades, politics appears, above all, to be about power: power within the party, and power for the party
8 min |
April 11, 2026
Outlook
"For USA, the Entire Globe is a Chessboard"
The coordinated attack on Iran by the US and Israeli military forces has major ramifications for the future shape of global politics.
6 min |
April 11, 2026
Outlook
Centralised Dravidian
Doubts about the AIADMK's future have grown stronger and talk of the end of the Dravidian binary has resurfaced. Will this election be another watershed like 1967?
5 min |
April 11, 2026
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Un-necessary War
Beyond Islam, there is the pride of an ancient Persian civilisation that infuses Iranian identity. Unfortunately, the Americans have arrogantly belittled the power of memories
5 min |
April 11, 2026
Outlook
Man of Many Words
Himanta Biswa Sarma was not placed on the throne of Assam's governance. He arrived there, navigating parties, positions and ideological contradictions, adjusting swiftly and deftly as the political ground shifted in the eastern state. What has remained constant is his instinct for power and his ability to stay a step ahead of the politics he helps ferment
10 min |
April 11, 2026
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On the Persian Carpet
THE killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by joint US-Israeli strikes shook Kashmir, triggering protests, with authorities trying to contain demonstrations.
1 min |
April 11, 2026
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Festivals of Blood
From a killing in Northeast Delhi to arrests, assaults, and calls for violence across states, attacks against Muslims saw a spike during the month of Ramzan in 2026
7 min |
April 11, 2026
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Opposites on the Colour Wheel
Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee have been taking potshots at each other, including indulging in personal attacks, for over a decade now. That's how they have kept Bengal polarised
5 min |
April 11, 2026
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Court Poets
Once feared, propaganda has now found surprising acceptance in the vocabulary of Bollywood
4 min |
April 11, 2026
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An Absence of Answers
One of the topical questions this novel raises is about the nature of information in our time. Who decides whether a piece of news is true or untrue? Whose word is taken for fact?
4 min |
April 11, 2026
Outlook
The Unpeople
Assam's electoral issues are many: eviction drives, razed lives and identity crises
8 min |