FOOTLOOSE

Pirates of the unruly sea

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 06:32:56 +0530

My first encounter with sea-pirates was at the age of seven. They seemed largely harmless. Patched-eye pirates, somehow, invoking pity. It was an Asterix comic-book, unintentionally introducing the enigmatic world

Indo- Pak talks: dialogue is therapeutic

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:45:28 +0530

Talks are therapeutic. That's what any shrink will tell you. Especially, if it is between two warring parties, that have witnessed extreme highs and lows in a relationship. For Indo-Pak

J&K: The lesser polls with larger gains

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 01:21:26 +0530

KP woman, a former militant and a model turned politician are Kashmir's new sarpanches The usually stone-pelted streets of Baramulla sprung a surprise a gentle summer afternoon. Celebrations,

Time for a political roadmap on Kashmir?

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:44:52 +0530

Every time the Prime Minister visits Jammu and Kashmir, some things are inevitable. For instance, traffic jams or no traffic at all; speculations, expectations and finally an anti-climax, when he

Kashmir: The dichotomy of grief

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:16:07 +0530

Young lives lost are always tragic. The grief of it is something which every home in Kashmir carefully guards against. Somehow, it quietly creeps in. The grief of an army

A Stoned T-20

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:11:01 +0530

It was an invitation for a T-20 of different sorts. "Make sure you are on time," they gently dropped a reminder. Precisely, on Friday, on the streets of Baramulla. The

Enter the dragon, and it spits fire

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:41:15 +0530

Every time there is an argument on India's tricky neighbourhood, my vote goes out to China. It is our more formidable neighbour. But somehow we are so pulled into our

Terror- fighters, who?

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:45:10 +0530

It is the week of 26/11. A week of remembrances and of pledges re-drawn. As the nation stood solemnly, silently and promised not to forget, a lesser known, forgotten village

Big brother India!

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:28:57 +0530

On a rather hot summer afternoon in Srinagar, a friend spoke about the sense of isolation an average Kashmiri youth feels outside the Valley. I retorted, "But then Kashmiris have

Kargil: Of a war and the mountains

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:33:35 +0530

When India was at its last war, I was a student, holidaying somewhere near the high altitude training school in Gulmarg, Kashmir. On the way back at the Srinagar airport,

From apolitical to be political

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:50:18 +0530

First, he refuses to share a dais with L K Advani. Then he says the BJP has no voice in their agitated rhetoric. "It is all apolitical, for god's sake.

From bijli, sadak, paani, to a vote for peace?

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:10:25 +0530

It was the preferred phrase during the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. As voters' queues stretched on, men in phirans, enthusiastic women, and hopeful youngsters, talked about bijli, sadak,

JK Polls: People on the edge

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:30:40 +0530

This picture (below) on its own, would perhaps confuse you. But the blur and the speed have a story. This is nine-year-old Samira Begum running for cover It was

Ground Zero Jammu: Terror and TV reporting

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 07:29:12 +0530

When the phone rings at 2 am, you know its not good news. Rather, for journalists it is always big news. On Wednesday night, this was a false alarm. A

The land of discontent

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:01:41 +0530

For travellers on the road, a drive through the Jawahar Tunnel on the National Highway IA could well describe the divide between Jammu and Kashmir- at least geographically. The political,and

... Of evolved and effective protests

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:37:54 +0530

Finally someone said it. " Journalists are also human beings". And it took the Dalai Lama to see it. In a crowded news-conference at his office in McLeodganj, the journalists

Of a few Taare Zameen Par

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:20:41 +0530

The first thing that strikes you about the village is the well-bred hens. Even before you have finished wondering at their fitness levels, the introductions pour in. Azmatabad village is