The words are harsh. But the reality is harsher. The poor who sold their land, are now selling their daughters in rural India. Not to dwell in luxuries, but ward off hunger.

And it’s happening everywhere. In cities it could be a matter of choice, but in rural India it is per force. [Read more]

Those were the days when the goons of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena were bullying and bashing up the North Indians in Mumbai. A friend from Texas sent me an email sharing the revolutionary step taken by a school to break racial barriers.

Why can’t you ape our schools? How can geographical, linguistic or communal barriers stay in an era of online communities? [Read more]

Isn’t it disgusting? The two Yadav chieftains of the Hindi heartland – Mulayam and Lalu- grew up in politics opposing the dynasty rule that Nehru had introduced in the country. They also played to their political galleries opposing 33 per cent quota for women in the Lok Sabha and the State assemblies. [Read more]

I happened to visit Tata Memorial Hospital during my Mumbai stint. There was so much pain all around. The only heartening news was the quality time spent by some people, including the two Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi, with cancer patients. [Read more]

Perhaps for the first time, a Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh stayed away from the tradition of garlanding the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the heart of UP’s capital Lucknow on October 2 last. [Read more]