With the US and rest of the West backing the rebels, will Syria go the Libya way? Not yet, it seems
Sanjay Kapoor Damascus (Syria)
NOVEMBER 2011
November 2011
Cover Story and Featured Stories
Is the rebellion in Homs enough to bend the might of the Al Assad regime? A journey to the conflict zone reveals no easy answers to this schizophrenic reality
Sanjay Kapoor Damascus (Syria)
Allegations of financial corruption, open infighting and ideological disarray: despite the bluff and bluster, Team Anna is ravaged by its own contradictions. This is not a story with a happy ending
Amit Sengupta Delhi
A brilliant new generation of short film makers, including women, thrives in Afghanistan
Reena Mohan Kabul
Why did Team Anna take so much time in declaring their accounts?
Sadiq Naqvi Delhi
Or, you may ask, Arvind Kejriwal ko ghussa kyon aata hai… Here is the inside story of the obsessive man behind the draconian Lokpal Bill
Sadiq Naqvi Delhi
This obsessive TV brand icon is an absolute anti-thesis of all that is Gandhian. His relentlessly aggressive, crass rhetoric and body language is transparent evidence
Manoj K Jha Delhi
Can Team Anna influence the outcome of UP polls in 2012? Unlikely, if we go by the thin crowd at their Lucknow meeting, or the incessant allegations and exposures
Pradeep Kapoor Lucknow
With her close links to BJP politicos, and her dogged enemies, this is not an open and shut case. So who killed Shehla Masood?
Akash Bisht Delhi
A rising star in the baba-politico firmament, Bhaiyyuji not only played a crucial role backstage in ending Anna Hazare’s fast, but was also seen breaking Narendra Modi’s sadbhavana fast. So who is this new spiritual guru hanging out with top politicians?
Akash Bisht Delhi
In VS Naipaul’s semi-autobiographical A House for Mr Biswas, there are only fleeting glimpses of its most attractive woman character. What if she were to tell her story and that of Naipaul – or Anand, her son in the novel – instead of the other way round?
Ratna Raman Delhi
More Stories from this Issue
The other day The Hindu scooped the report of Supreme Court's amicus curiae on the Zakia Jafri's case, which stated that there was a case for prosecuting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged complicity in the Gujarat riots. Amicus Curiae Raju Ramachandran has shown the courage to state the obvious when everyone has been engaging in obfuscation for the last nine years. He has not allowed himself to be swayed by the slanted conclusions of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that saw no merit in the demand for charge-sheeting Modi.
I'm not particularly fond of Arvind Kejriwal, but I have to give the devil his due. For starters, he's got everyone in the nation (corrupt people included) talking passionately about how corruption must be eradicated. I think that's absolutely fantastic, even though I do not approve of Kejriwal's flawed Jan Lokpal Bill or his shockingly dictatorial and undemocratic methods.
Kejriwal has other sterling qualities as well that have gone largely unnoticed, so I'd like to draw your attention to them:
Among hundreds of feature films, documentaries and short films from around the world, I spied India, Matri Bhumi, a jewel of a film in four episodes. The film is a record of Roberto Rossellini's personal impressions of India.
...That which is for me through the medium of money – that for which I can pay (i.e., which money can buy) – that am I myself, the possessor of the money. The extent of the power of money is the extent of my power. Money's properties are my – the possessor's – properties and essential powers. Thus, what I am and am capable of is by no means determined by my individuality. I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women. Therefore, I am not ugly, for the effect of ugliness – its deterrent power – is nullified by money.
Despite its hagiographical tenor, this biography of Sonia Gandhi illumines parts of her life that have long remained in the shadows
Sanjay Kapoor Delhi
For short filmmakers in Bhutan it's not really so happy. But these creative artists are not losing hope
Reena Mohan Thimpu (Bhutan)