The Rites of Renunciation

10

If you stand in the same place long enough, they say, you'll see political events come around full circle. I have clearly spent too much time standing outside on Sonia Gandhi's footpath at 10 Janpath in New Delhi. As I watch the numbers of congress workers swell outside the security barricades of her residence, the police cordons coming up, Youth congress leaders (all of whom look at least 40) marching up and down with flags- the women shrieking songs of praise to their leader- I know I have been here before. This is the third time around. In May 1999, and May 2004 (thank god its in March this year and the weather is pleasant), I have marked these roads, sat on the sidewalk, eaten box lunches as we witness Congressmen coming together, to do what they do best- offering homage to their leader. As always, Sonia's....

The Mommy Mahabharata

10

It's the war no one talks about- and that's partially because, many don't realise it exists. Not the women- who are so busy working out their own schedule with kids, husbands, dogs and the goldfish bowl- and certainly not the men (who, lets face it, don't notice all that much :)) But ever since I had one child, and then another- I have been listening in to tales of the "mommy wars". The divide between mothers that have jobs outside the home, and those that choose to stay home to take care of their kids. I remember a friend of mine telling me that she had given up trying to explain why she chose to quit her job so as to take care of her kids. "Conversation stops," she said "Whenever I tell anyone this. Clearly they would be much happier if I could give them a....

Stand Up and Take a Bow

10

Every journalist is basically just a curious little kid. All we want to do is go into people's homes, look at how they live, find out how they feel, ask them what they enjoy doing. Sometimes actually putting their stories out is the afterthought, something we HAVE to do after we've had all the fun. And despite our impertinence, and nosiness, we receive kindness and hospitality most places we go. From the cup of Kahwa in Kashmir's frozen cold to the invitation to lunch on a tsunami-devastated beach in Tamil Nadu, to the way people insisted on pulling out chairs for us to sit on in villages of Gujarat as they recounted horrors of the riots. And those are the extreme cases. In our daily jobs, we meet scores of people who are patient and polite as we try and get close-up with cameras for a glimpse....