India Behind The Lens (News Centre)

The people of this country never had any doubts about the historicity of Krishna until the colonial invaders projected Krishna as a mythical figure cooked up by wonderful stories.

The story of Krishna is deeply embedded in the cultural fabric of India and the people of this land revere Him as a Divinity. The colonial hangover has however left a doubt on the historicity of this highly..

What is different about 2013?

June 2013 has been a month that will be etched in the minds and hills of the Himalaya for the large scale devastation wrought about in the valleys of Kedarnath.

The Himalayas are known to be earthquake prone. But this devastation was not due to an earthquake but floods due to a cloudburst.

The pilgrim towns in the Himalayas that have be..

Ramachandra Guha never learns, does he? There’s a limit to how many times his bluff has been called. Or is there? Wait…there is a limit to the number of times his bluff has been called but given his record, his capacity to bluff is infinite. When I searched for “Ramachandra Guha” on my blog, it returned forty nine results. T..

She begins her piece with the line:"In defence of the insulting and repugnant 'puppy' analogy he used when asked in an interview about the 2002 pogroms in Gujarat, Narendra Modi tweeted "In our culture every form of life is valued and worshipped." Except, he could have added, if you are a Muslim or a Christian."
 This is an extreme..

1931 Kashmir Riots: 13th July 1931 saw an expression of extreme form of communalism from the majority community of the Kashmir valley - the Kashmiri Muslims. In the name of protest against the local king - Maharaja Hari Singh, the Kashmiri Muslims unleashed gruesome violence on the Hindus living in the Kashmir valley.

The Simmering: It was on June 21..

Kedarnath and Badrinath, two most beloved northern tirthas, have for the past two weeks witnessed an apocalyptic spectacle of pralaya with an enraged god and angry goddess stomping a dance of death in fierce tandem. As clouds burst, mountainsides crumbled, and torrential streams hurtled multistoried buildings, hydel projects, roads, humans and animals alike to..

Amidst confusing, even contradictory, reports coming out of Syria, it is clear that the world is poised on the brink of a greater conflagration than previously envisioned - a regional war distinct from the US-NATO action in Iraq and Libya, with wider ramifications. Major world capitals have decided their stand vis-à-vis Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. New Delhi is playing ostrich, but may ag..

Madhuri Ramakrishnasway, a maternal health activist was arrested on the 16th May 2013 outside the court in Barwani, Madhya Pradesh [MP], India. The police had received a complaint from those in charge of a hospital currently under scrutiny for the alleged mismanagement and neglect of maternal health. The background of this complaint is as follows:- On the night of 11th November 2008, a very p..

“Spring thunder has begun” boomed Peking radio and with this announcement the nation begun to experience its “tryst with destiny” announced some two decades under the unfurling of the tri-colour. The above 1967, the violent uprising of peasants at Districts of Darjeeling, including Naxalbari from which it derived the ideological impression of “ism” – ..

Translation of Pratap Simha’s column 18 May 2013 column in Kannada Prabha.

An incident comes to mind. The incident is recorded in Shanti Bhushan’s autobiography, Courting Destiny. The incident occurred sometime in 1978.

Morarji Desai had completed an year as Prime Minister. He began to face threats to his chair. The powerful Janata leader and Home Minist..