“At first, political parties would publish what they wanted through their own mouthpieces. After Liberalisation of the economy in 1991, corporates, who earlier influenced indirectly through advertising, began owning media houses directly”, said R Jagannathan, editor of Swarajya Magazine, in a panel discussion held in Bandra last week. The discussionContinue Reading
“The biggest struggle I had, was with myself,” said Ria Sharma, founder of ‘Make Love Not Scars’ and the first Indian to receive the UNICEF Global Awards in 2017. In conversation at a panel discussion during the TATA Lit Fest, titled, ‘Paving the Way’, she discussed primarily the importance ofContinue Reading
There is no need to get worried about the current polarisation in Indian society, nor should there be fears that Indian democracy will be destroyed as a result. This too will pass, seemed to be the consensus during a rather heated debate and discussion among panelists and audience, on theContinue Reading
India is a complex nation consisting of a melee of diverse cultures, languages, habits and customs. The pressing question is who can qualify as ‘Indians’? Every person residing in this nation is both an insider and an outsider in one way or the other. A number of people have migratedContinue Reading
“Emergencies are of two types; one is declared and the other is undeclared. We are currently surrounded by an undeclared emergency”, said Swami Agnivesh, while replying to a question by journalist Sandeep Bhushan at a session titled ‘State of emergency: How similar is 2019 to 1975?. This was part ofContinue Reading
The fourth and the final day of Tata Literature Live Mumbai Fest 2019 held in Title Waves, Bandra, moved the audience into the realm of comic literature. On a serene Sunday morning, panelists Appupen and Dave McKean, chaired by Aarthi Parthasarthy who engaged the audience for an hour-long thoughts andContinue Reading
The BJP has used the controversy surrounding the death of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as a tool to extract political mileage. The government declassified the files in the hope that it would find evidence to denigrate Jawaharlal Nehru, but on the contrary, it was found that the relationship between theContinue Reading
When three authors of fiction couched strongly in history get together with a translator and the host of a popular, long-running television show called Just Books, to talk about whether fiction is a better way to ‘tell’ history, the results are a pretty foregone conclusion. It is, because fiction allowsContinue Reading
As the third day of Tata Literature Live Mumbai Fest 2019 commences, Title Waves, Bandra, saw an interesting tryst with history. Starting at 10:30 am on a Saturday morning, panelists Ashis Ray, Kumar Ketkar, Vishwas Patil, chaired by Sidharth Bhatia engaged in an hour-long discussion on “Bigg Bose: Netaji’s ComplicatedContinue Reading
“Mumbai is a second home for me, and if to you want to deal the traffic in this city, just cross the roads with an amputee and see how quickly people make way,” said New Zealander Mark Inglis, to an appreciative crowd that roared with laughter. The man who wasContinue Reading