Articles

Times face-off: Is Central Vista an ill-timed vanity project or a much-needed makeover

Ram Madhav, May 28, 2021

The overnight transformation of Nehru-Gandhi parivar bhakts into Lutyens’ bhakts is quite intriguing. Their opposition to the Central Vista Project on the facile grounds that many ‘heritage’ buildings in the Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone (LBZ) are being destroyed is totally misplaced.  The Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone that houses government offices including Rashtrapati Bhavan was developed by Edward Lutyens over […]

Buddha – The Master

Ram Madhav, May 26, 2021

Gautama Buddha tried to bring reason and ethics as the path of the religion rather than some metaphysical somnolence.  In the history of humanity, the last five centuries of the pre-Christian era were a golden period of reason and logic. The Greek and Roman philosophers on one side and the Vedic, Buddhist, Jain and Nastik(heterodox) scholars […]

Two years of Modi 2.0: Challenges & response

Ram Madhav, May 24, 2021

The 2014 mandate that catapulted Narendra Modi into the prime ministership of the world’s largest democracy was essentially due to three factors — Mr Modi’s personal charisma, the united grassroot efforts of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar cadre and the failures of the previous UPA-2 government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh. When the general […]

Positivity: Not mind but heart should be at work

Ram Madhav, May 21, 2021

When tragedy of humongous proportions strikes, like the one mankind is passing through now, positivity as a byproduct of empathy and hope is called for in such moments An obese gentleman walked into a restaurant and ordered 12 vadas, a South Indian snack. Looking at his overweight body, a companion asked him if it was right […]

Centre is doing its best in Covid crisis, but could be more transparent and open

Ram Madhav, May 15, 2021

In the negative narrative over the Indian government’s handling during the second Covid wave, we are forgetting its sincere endeavours and the real challenges. A greater part of the narrative is focussed on deriding and demeaning the prime minister with the singular objective of projecting him as insensitive and incompetent. Those indulging in this kind […]

The Levant Erupts Again

Ram Madhav, May 14, 2021

Another violent turn in the long-standing objective of Hamas to capture Jerusalem Soumya Santosh, a 30-year-old nurse-cum-caregiver from Idukki in Kerala, has brought the Hamas-Israel conflict closer to our living rooms last week. Santosh was working as a caregiver to 80-year-old Nella Gurevitz and her husband in Ashkelon, a Jerusalem suburb. She was killed along […]

Two years of Modi 2.0 – Challenges and Responses

Ram Madhav, May 2, 2021

The 2014 mandate that catapulted Narendra Modi into the prime ministership of the world’s largest democracy was essentially due to three factors – Modi’s personal charisma, united grassroot efforts of the party and Sangh Parivaar cadre and the failures of the previous UPA II government. When the elections took place five years later in 2019, […]

Decentralise and empower states and civil society

Ram Madhav, April 27, 2021

For the country to tide over this emergency, greater empowered involvement of different stakeholders is imperative “Wait for Godot or wait for God?” — is a philosophical question that seekers direct at the masters. Godot was an enigmatic character created by the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett in his popular play, Waiting for Godot. In Beckett’s play, […]