Census of India: Gone With the Wind

The 2021 Census has been indefinitely postponed with doubts about whether the 150-year-old Census of India will even continue in its present form. The governments of both colonial and independent India have drawn on the census for their own purposes, but it always was a rich source of quality data.▶05-Sep-2022
G. N. Devy

October 7, 2022

Labour room violence; The life of Agyeya; The Census of India; and more

Book
Review

The Rise and Fall of the Sassoons

The rise and fall of a business empire of colonial Bombay is a story about global capitalism on the one hand, and diasporas and minority identity, on the other.
▶06-Oct-2022
Dinyar Patel

The Anti-Defection Law That Does Not Aid Stability

The anti-defection law has stifled the voices of the elected representatives. Legislators not adhering to party discipline is a political problem, and it has to be remedied through more internal…
▶05-Oct-2022
Chakshu Roy

The Edict Project (Edition 2) | TM Krishna | In collaboration with Ashoka University

On the Ashoka edicts, TM Krishna sets the edicts to music and converses with Historian Nayanjyot Lahiri of Ashoka University.
▶04-Oct-2022
T.M. Krishna

Play. Stop. Rewind. Record.

"We were, in many ways, coached into listening—casually, closely, intimately, itinerantly—by the cassette tape. It made sound available to us beyond broadcast radio, and allowed us to curate our…
▶02-Oct-2022
Usha Raman

Xi Jinping’s 'New Deal' for China

Rising inequality and unbalanced regional growth in China occupy the minds of its rulers. Will 'Common Prosperity', the paramount leader’s proposed solution, resolve matters?
▶29-Sep-2022
Anand Parappadi Krishnan

Indo-English and Anglo-Indish

We know about the influence of English on the Indian languages, but we need to understand better how Indian words and phrases penetrated English and the social mechanisms underlying their usage in…
▶28-Sep-2022
Sumit Guha
Book
Review

The Life of 'Agyeya' the Unknowable

There is a quality of honesty in Akshaya Mukul's biography of Agyeya, a willingness to lay bare the messy complexities of actual lives, which is a welcome break from the tradition of producing…
▶26-Sep-2022
Alok Rai

Trends in Economic Inequality in India

There has been an increase in economic inequality in India over the past few decades, with the rich-poor gaps among the largest of several peer economies. Household surveys show that alongside the…
▶19-Sep-2022
Maitreesh Ghatak, Ramya Raghavan, Linchuan Xu

Making a Living in Urban India: A Photo Essay

A photo essay on the struggles of Indians in cities and towns for existence and dignity as they negotiate their lives every day.
▶16-Sep-2022
Zaheer Baber
Book
INDIA AT 75

The Journey since 1947-III: Can the Bicycle Come Full Circle in India?

The bicycle, once a symbol of India’s industrialisation, is now relegated to use by the labouring classes who have to risk life and limb on India’s roads. But it may make a comeback given its value…
▶14-Sep-2022
Divya Kannan