Sameer Rahat was performing Urdu blues at a private function when I saw him first. It’s a novel fusion, I thought, of two rich traditions set to music. He did it very well. A gypsy by temperament, he has a need to lose himself in the quest of self-discovery, freedom from contexts: where I belong, parents, situations in life. It came to me, almost, as a rude awakening: he’s so different from his father, yet that difference has something familiar—certain continuity in disruptio

​ One can argue, Anil Antony made a politically disastrous decision by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). For his father, A K Antony, is one of the tallest Congress leaders, has served as the chief minister of Kerala and held senior cabinet positions in the union government. And recently the Congress party did very well in the Kerala assembly elections and came back to power with a thumping majority; had Anil stayed on in his father’s party would have reaped political

Raghav Chadha is a Rajya Sabha member, the youngest to be made one. His party–Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)–now feels it was a mistake. To desert the party that made a man out of him, and then a politician with substance (I doubt, certainly skilled), was not expected of him. I don’t blame Arvind Kejriwal for him, but he is learning the hard way. Looks matter and looks can be deceptive. Swati Maliwal, now Raghav. Arvind was able to keep his flocks together when he was the chief minist

​ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, daughter, granddaughter, great granddaughter of the prime ministers of India. Her mother, Sonia, is of Italian origin, could also become the prime minister, however, her conscience didn’t permit it. Sonia, however, couldn’t resist the trappings of power, she, for all practical purposes, ruled by proxy, with Manmohan Singh as the prime minister. Sonia headed an extra constitutional body, tailor made for her, the National Advisory Council (NAS), its ad

Jan Peters is an environmentalist by heart, a landscape ecologist by training, leading an individualistic life with responsibility, having said that, he’s a traveller by temperament and is open to influences. Curiosity keeps him going, exploring new frontiers. He has been to many countries and witnessed communities, garnering intuitive understanding of the way of life, people, environment, geography, biology, economy of a place and what not. A panoramic picture of a place com

​ Iih, just over 30, has made strange choices in life that makes him an odd one in terms of normative existence. At the age of 14, he rebelled, left the comfort of home, dropped out of school, and became a vagabond in a more in a more contemporary sense—romanticized unconventional mobile lifestyle. Home, the irrevocable condition, was not there for him, so he learned​ to take care of himself, remaining a political animal, an activist with the Gandhian ambition to change the w

There was a singer and an accompanist on the guitar.​ Rohit Solomon played guitar in the way that it felt like an orchestra, I could hear...

The revolutionary Gen Z of Nepal overthrew the incumbent government in merely 24 hours of agitation. They were against protracted...

Theoretical physicist Apoorv Tiwari is a 36 years old Indian with boyish looks, is​ a leading researcher in the field of quantum...