Head to Haid-ar

Will Nawaz Sharif open a promising new chapter of India-Pak relations?

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:16:22 +0530

On the final day of campaigning in Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif was due at three massive rallies in Lahore. Crowds grew restive as they waited for their leader, the man they

Pakistan election diary: 1997, 2008 and now

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:23:22 +0530

Elections in the subcontinent are always a riot of colours, but perhaps no election has quite the mix of tragedy and power that Pakistani elections do. Here are a few

Sarabjit Singh's Manto Moment

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 06 May 2013 06:23:33 +0530

It's impossible not to think of Manto. In the part of Punjab that Bhikhiwind (Sarabjit Singh's hometown) lies, words from Saadat Hassan Manto's most famous story, 'Toba Tek Singh', keep

Right over the precipice

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:56:44 +0530

Why the real game changer in Pakistan's elections could be the radical right, and why India should worry. It was a speech made with a stilted accent, but clearly

Keeping an inconvenient spotlight on Sarabjit

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:32:31 +0530

She is an inconvenient figure who shadows every big India-Pakistan bilateral meeting, keeping a small spotlight on Sarabjit Singh, even as leaders and officials discuss the convoluted composite dialogue and

Election Commission, Supreme Court, Army: The wildcards in Pakistan's election

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:18:52 +0530

In politics, it is prudent never to write anyone off. Yet as Pakistan's former President General Pervez Musharraf began his judicial custody in Islamabad, the 'writing off', is on the

India must back Shahbag and the quest for war crime justice

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 06:40:10 +0530

"No Tahrir, no Tahrir", shouted the young protestor at Shahbag square. Sporting a flag of Bangladesh painted on his cheek, he explained why the protests swelling in Dhaka since February

India-Pakistan tensions: What caused the frenzy?

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 07:52:37 +0530

Ironically, it was the words of the Indian Army Chief that made many journalists covering the tensions at LoC take the first pause in the barrage of bellicose reporting that

Analysing 2012: How to lose friends and influence in India's 'shadow zones'

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 02:11:21 +0530

If India is to counter China and the US seeking twin "strings of pearls" of influence in the region, then that can be achieved not from muscle or money power,

Rehman Malik in India: Expect the unexpected

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 02:30:27 +0530
As Pakistani politicians go, Rehman Malik certainly stands out. A policeman who has made it up the ranks of a feudal political system, he was the chief of Pakistan's Federal

Facing an inconvenient truth

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:29:47 +0530
Sometimes, turning full circle takes no time. Eighteen months after NATO forces bombed Qadhafi's Libya citing their responsibility to protect the citizens of Benghazi, U.S. drones hovered over the city

Radicals in Rawalpindi

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 03:52:29 +0530
Kamra's Minhas air force base is one of Pakistan's most prized installations - part of a string of bases that guard the country's north, it is best positioned to launch

In Afghan war, everyone forgot about women's rights

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 12:05:59 +0530
As shots rang out, the woman fell with a thud. No cries for help or mercy, and no attempt to flee her fate. As a man pumped in more bullets,

Race for Pakistan PM: Leave it to the voter

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:32:31 +0530
Yousuf Raza Gilani could have broken two records in Pakistan. First, of being the country's longest serving prime minister (with the supreme court disqualifying him from the parliament from April

Dear journalism students, I wish you many job rejections

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:13:57 +0530
To the graduating students of WMA - it really is an honour to address you today. To begin with, Congratulations! I am sure you must have heard a lot about

Why India needs a new script for modern Myanmar

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:14:24 +0530
Just across the National League for Democracy (NLD)'s office in Yangon is a small restaurant. It is in this place one can witness the difference between Myanmar's past and present

Desperately seeking Suu Kyi

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:30:56 +0530
On some days in a reporter's life, nothing works out. And as we headed to Myanmar last Friday, I had a feeling it was going to be one of those

False step: India's turnaround on Syria

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:07:07 +0530
Exactly one year after the drumroll began for international intervention in Gaddafi's Libya, the stage is being set for the same in Syria. Armed with reports from human rights groups,

The Arab Spring faces its winter

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:49:39 +0530
At a small gathering of top Indian executives and management professionals in Bangalore this December, Egyptian blogger and spokesman for the "April 6 movement" Waleed Rashed was explaining how the

The more things stay the same...

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:18:51 +0530
The year 2011 was when Pakistan confirmed the world's worst fears about it - as the safe haven that housed Osama bin Laden, as a country where those who stood

Averting the next Afghanistan

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:50:24 +0530
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's flight path from Tripoli to Kabul this week should have given the US administration some reason to reflect on how to ensure that the

Damascus Diary: The Road to Hama

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:52:35 +0530
Madam, "Action toh idhar hai, aap kahaan jaa rahe ho? (the action is here, where are you off to?" The security officer at the Delhi airport is very disapproving as

Why the West is losing its step in the Arab Spring

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:15:35 +0530
Foreign policy has very few tongue-in-cheek moments. Yet, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad called on the British government to show restraint while quelling its rioters, and suggested a full report

Kashmir step by step: the next round of talks

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:25:35 +0530
India needs to understand that the absence of violence in the Kashmir Valley is not peace, and that development and dignity for all Kashmiris go hand in hand. Pakistan must

The story that killed journalist Saleem Shahzad

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 10:23:53 +0530
"Journalist sabka dost hota hai (Journalists are everybody's friends)," was Saleem Shahzad's response when I asked him about the Taliban connections of a common acquaintance, "What matters is if he

In the line of fire: Pakistan's Army, post-Osama

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:13:27 +0530
Not only is the Pakistani public angry, but this is the first time in the country's 63 years that the Army chief and the head of the ISI have had

Covering Kashmir: An outsider's view from the inside - IV

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 22 May 2011 03:46:39 +0530
As the years have passed, what amazes me is the perseverance of journalists who continue to cover the story. There's even an irrational hope that every twist, every turn in

Covering Kashmir: An outsider's view from the inside - III

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 21 May 2011 03:54:40 +0530
Perhaps the darkest period in this regard came in the late 90s and 2000, when militancy driven by the Lashkar-e-Toiba was at a peak. The number of security checks went

Covering Kashmir: An outsider's view from the inside - II

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 20 May 2011 03:45:30 +0530
The militants we met were probably the last batch of fully home-grown insurgents fighting in Kashmir. 1995 marked the takeover of the struggle by non-Kashmiri militants - mainly by Afghan-war

Covering Kashmir: An outsider's view from the inside - I

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:39:13 +0530
There are so many ways of describing the tragedy of the Kashmir valley, but my favourite is the comparison to a very beautiful woman. In her youth, the strongmen of

Indian journalists make news in Pakistan

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 05:57:44 +0530
Unguided missiles over the border Even for a journalist privileged to have visited Pakistan more than a dozen times, this trip is a novelty. We are

NATO road to Libya paved with folly

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:21:32 +0530
"The easiest way to achieve complete strategic surprise," reads the motto on US Defence Secretary Robert Gates' desk, "is to commit an act that makes no sense or is even

India must rethink its Kabul strategy

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:16:47 +0530
Speaking to a gathering of intelligence officials in New Delhi recently, India's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Satinder Lambah revealed a small but startling fact about his trip to

Suhasini Haidar: Gunning for Libya

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 01:26:58 +0530
The Indian tricolour in Tripoli harbour - amid all the chaos and violence of Libya's current crisis - was perhaps the most incongruous image of all. Yet, it was also

Don't put Libya in the 'revolutions' basket

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 04:51:40 +0530
It's a slap that echoed around the world -- and without exaggeration, struck fear in the hearts of dozens of regimes across it. Every cliché from 'forest fire' to 'dominos'

Chasing Storms: Getting into Tripoli

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 08:08:45 +0530
That joke about the burning building is true, you know. That if a building is on fire, and a hundred people are jostling to get out -besides the poor fireman,

Partnering a rival

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 10:23:21 +0530
Partners, not rivals. That's how the two men who lead India and China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Premier Wen Jiabao, described the relationship this December. Yet just two weeks

The new China: From Yin-Yang to Young-Young

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:37:35 +0530
This is a new China we are visiting. I am part of a think tank delegation, here to engage with the Communist party and PLA's think tanks, as opposed to

Broken Knees, Broken Promises: India, Pak in 2010

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:23:50 +0530
YouTube describes it as the world's most ridiculous border ceremony. And that's putting it politely, as anyone who has watched the Wagah flag-lowering ceremony between India and Pakistan would testify.

WikiLeaks: India, US, Pak need dialogue on Afghanistan

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:28:34 +0530
Amidst a barrage of criticism over his foreign policy, President Barack Obama must be wondering why when Wiki-leak reigns, it has to pour quite so much. As 250,000 cables from

The great subcontinental green game

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:22:39 +0530
AP File photo shows mangrove trees submerged in the river water in the Sunderbans. An India-Bangladesh joint initiative to save the Sunderbans can serve as a role model for trans-border

India has to win its neighbours to keep China at bay

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:29:03 +0530
Instead of being alarmed at China's growing inroads in the region, India needs to take a harder look at its own role and find new ways to win neighbours and

Finding the face of the Kashmiri protestor

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:56:46 +0530
Getting to the truth in Kashmir is like the dance of the seven veils. But there are moments that will startle you with their clarity. Like listening to 31-year-old Rafiqa,

Playing the changing game

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:21:32 +0530
In the action-packed theatre of Afghanistan-Pakistan, or Af-Pak, the game keeps changing. That is one of the reasons why, in the wake of the WikiLeaks documents release story, analysts from

A case of exploding mangoes

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 08:21:41 +0530
India-Pakistan talks have much in common with a case of ripe mangoes: must be handled with care, are easily bruised, and decay if left too many hours out on the

Why India, Pakistan need to keep talking

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:15:20 +0530
It's practically a tradition to see India-Pakistan relations as a zero-sum game - if it is good for Pakistan, it must be bad for India and vice-versa. Or so it

Rajapaksa and the pursuit of peace

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:14:23 +0530
A year and nearly a month to the day - and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa marked "Victory day" last Friday with the island's biggest military parade ever. It wasn't

Daunting task ahead for Krishna, Qureshi

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:05:33 +0530
Bridging the trust deficit - the task handed down to Foreign Ministers SM Krishna and SM Qureshi by their Prime Ministers is indeed a daunting if not an impossible one.

Eat your heart out, I am wearing it on my sleeve

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 02 May 2010 04:01:09 +0530
There are several reasons I wear the Tricolour around my wrist. It's a rubber band with the national flag, even the blue Ashoka Chakra on it. First- I really do

Uncorking the spirit of Copenhagen

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:38:13 +0530
Asian giants with a mountain of mistrust between them: that has been the view of India and China for decades. Yet, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled West last week

Many U-turns and a full circle

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 03:22:11 +0530
It's another sign of changing times--and changing US policy in Afghanistan. A story in the New York Times this week describes how U.S. and NATO forces are turning their opium

Half the sky is not enough

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:52:32 +0530
During the debate in Parliament and outside it over the Women's Reservation Bill, many have referred to quota 'success stories' worldwide - proposing that India could gain from the experience

Veiled musings

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:37:38 +0530
It was a picture in the paper that startled me that morning- the Prime Minister's wife Mrs Gursharan Kaur standing alongside the PM. In a sari, her head uncovered; her

India- Pakistan talks: A very Shaky Start

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:29:47 +0530
In 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped an assassination attempt when a powerful bomb exploded in the Brighton Hotel she was staying at. Claiming responsibility for the blast that

India and Pakistan: a new over in the offing?

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 08:43:18 +0530
Even gods have their moments of doubt- of coming up against seemingly insurmountable odds. And it would seem Cricket, one of the subcontinents most venerated gods may have met such

India and Pakistan: deadlines for dialogue

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:21:10 +0530
Every impending deadline, coupled with the window of opportunity for talks in Kashmir, underscores the need for a new line of engagement between New Delhi and Islamabad. As a

Jammu and Kashmir: Seize the Moment

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:11:00 +0530
Opportunities, says ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, multiply as they are seized. A leader doesn't just make things happen, he is able to see when destiny beckons and the stars

That’s What Friends are For

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:45:35 +0530
"It's often been said, the most beautiful things in the universe are the starry heavens above us and the feeling of duty within us." As he raised a toast to

Desi Down to the Last Detail

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:21:39 +0530
10 Downing Street may have been 'balti-fied' ages ago- clearly it's now the White House's turn to be 'currified'- and so the State Dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gursharan

On Board Air India 001

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:56:00 +0530
Deal-ing with expectations Here were are, taking off on one of the longest Prime Ministerial trips in recent times-eight days, including three days in transit--as we go Delhi-Geneva-Washington-Port of

26/11 never again

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:44:56 +0530
It's a recurring nightmare: Mumbai is under siege, hundreds of people are being held hostage, and I wake up morning after morning asking the same question...is it over yet? Is

A Tale of Two Fatwas

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:54:39 +0530
Intolerance, like the animals off Noah's ark seems to come in twos. Probably why the past week saw two distinctly different expressions of it - in two distinctly different places

Pakistan's United Colours of Terror

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:30:58 +0530
It's Pakistan's Fatal Attraction, rapidly reaching that awful scene of the Michael Douglas-Glenn Close film. The thrill of Jihad and the cause of Freedom has worn away like the autumn

Flying False Economy

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:51:08 +0530
About the only time members of our cabinet and the Congress party queue up, it seems is in line to proclaim their "austerity". Reminiscent of the Ella Fitzgerald number,

A Rough Cut Of Pakistan's History

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:39:00 +0530
Seeds of Terror: The Taliban, the ISI and the Opium Wars - Gretchen Peters, Published by Hachette India The Al Qaeda Connection: The Taliban and Terror in Pakistan's Tribal

You gotta live a little

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:15:01 +0530
Shut it down, shut it down...the SMSes I received last week had the same message. As a parent rep at my children's school -- it was my duty to convey

The Big 'B' Word

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:55:45 +0530
"Gilani sahb, tussi ki kitta?" (Gilani sahb, What have you done?), the fiery questions hit Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani as soon as he exited from talks with Prime Minister Manmohan

Indian boots on the Champs Elysee

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:51:23 +0530
This could be January 26th I think. From my vantage point in the media box on the Champs Elysees - the Paris equivalent of Rajpath - I can see Prime

Deja vu or something new?

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:23:52 +0530
Yes, I know most of you are going to roll your eyes - not India-Pakistan again???? But here it is, I am on board the Prime Minister's plane Air India-1

To Russia with love, and a bit of luck

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:35:37 +0530
While everyone sorts out just what Elections 2009 meant for the Congress, the BJP, the Left- what has perhaps crept up on all concerned, unnoticed is what the election verdict

The Guns are Silent

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:06:50 +0530
The first call I made when I saw the pictures on TV was to Neelan Thiruchelvam's son. Neelan was our sounding board whenever we landed in Colombo - soft-spoken,

It's all relative, beta Varun

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:29:38 +0530
It's all relative, beta Varun I am a younger child so I know. My elder sister was always having to pull me back from the brink of doing something

Taliban Lessons Unlearnt

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:13:15 +0530
It's ironic that the day Pakistan's government agreed to a deal to impose Shari'a in Swat and other parts came on the 20th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Miliband-ying those Words Around

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:18:56 +0530
It's the script of some terribly slapstick British sit-com on India- with vignettes on cows, rural "squirmy" medicine, traditional India-Pakistani rivalry, and, of course cricket. What makes it

This Too Shall Not Pass

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:05:53 +0530
The men behind the Mumbai carnage have reaped our blood, our tears, our anger. They have filled every Indian with rage as we watched our most innocent and our most

Time for some Pal-a-in Speaking

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:06:46 +0530
With Obama so clearly ahead in all the polls, following the race has lost a little of the adrenalin. Ok - I admit it.I am a complete sucker for

Waiting in the General Lounge

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:55:45 +0530
Eventually it was all three speeches that Musharraf decided to read out. For the week preceding his address to the Nation- he must have been considering his options-

It's our Retaliation They Want

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 06:37:14 +0530
There are hardly any parallels to what happened in Ahmedabad- in terms of terror attacks, IEDs and suicide bombings, never has a hospital been targeted in the cruel and completely

Don't bunk History class, if you want to pass Math

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:22:30 +0530
Forget the numbers, never have the letters meant so much to Manmohan Singh, his party, and government. I mean letters of the alphabet, not letters of support- but I guess

Tiddly Pom to Technology

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:28:50 +0530
The more it snows
The more it goes
The more it goes
On snowing And nobody knows
How cold my toes
How cold my toes
Are growing - AaMilne It's an old poem

A Promise is a Promise

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:52:35 +0530
Travelling through Pakistan just after Benazir's assassination, I was surprised by one thing. Amidst all the recrimination, all the accusations, and all the conspiracy theories, not once did I hear

Pak Poll Diary: From a journo in bullet-proof vest

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:17:31 +0530
As I pack my bags for the Pakistan elections, I pack a lot of advice too - from my family to the neighbours, to the immigration official who stamps my

Pak Poll Diary: In and out of exile

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:16:18 +0530
Pakistan is a revolving door for its politicians, all of whom have taken regular turns to come in and go out of the country in succession. What's more amazing,

Hating Hillary is a Head and Heart Thing

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:53:53 +0530
It's a head and heart thing. Each time I see Hillary at a rally or a debate I am turned off. Her body language, her tone, the way her eyes

Bhuttos and Gandhis: Common Chord, Common Curse

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 10:16:48 +0530
As another Bhutto dies a violent death- the comparisons between that tragic dynasty in Pakistan and our own Gandhis have become the cliché with the most currency. I succumb too,

A Rivalry Cut Short

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 09:25:41 +0530
It's a visit filled with so many ironies. The visit by Nawaz Sharif to the grave of Benazir Bhutto. A visit by the leader of one of Pakistan's biggest parties

Double jeopardy or quit

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:06:16 +0530
Musharraf's only chance of salvaging any of his bets made in the past eight years,is to lift the emergency as soon as possible. In the sea of scorn

Out and About with Mian Bibi and the Fauji.

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:53:06 +0530
There's a lion in the cage next to me. No, I am not kidding- I am travelling in a forklift about fifty feet high, making my way up to the

In search of an identity - document

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 10:31:26 +0530
You already know what I am going to tell you- but the system of getting a passport issued, your right as a citizen, something we are all encouraged to get,

The Devil is not in the Details

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 05:55:56 +0530
Every journalist knows that if everyone is unhappy with a story, it must be a good story. By that logic, Manmohan Singh must have got something good going with the

Talk to terror and it will come back to bite you

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 11:16:33 +0530
"We're interrupting that story to bring you this news just coming in..." When you're in journalism school, you always wonder what the breaking story will be when you

Talk to terror and it will come back to bite you.

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 11:07:39 +0530
"We're interrupting that story to bring you this news just coming in......." When you're in journalism school, you always wonder what the breaking story will be when you

Consensus isn't all its cracked up to be - II

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:01:14 +0530
And I thought I was the cynic. President Kalam suggests he may want to stick around in office and everyone disapproves. He now says he doesn't - and there's cheering

Consensus isn't all it's cracked up to be

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:07:18 +0530
Its crunch time with the presidential elections, as anyone with a television will tell you, there's a new possible candidate everyday, and the word with all the currency is Consensus.

Keeping the Faith

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 08:42:25 +0530
"I wish to inform you that your daughter is registered to marry a Muslim" said the postcard addressed to my father, "If you are aware of it, please accept my

We Are Family

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 08:10:16 +0530
Delhi is a city of name-droppers. Everyone 'knows' or needs to know someone- from school admissions, to driving licenses, to walking your dog in the park, nothing can be done

The Face of Fear

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:28:51 +0530
"Come quickly" he whispered, "Or it may be too late." It wasn't the way he said it that froze my blood, and made me want to do what he said-

Diplomacy in the Full Glare of the Arc-lights

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 01:16:35 +0530
It was something the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Khurshid Kasuri said that struck me as a sign of our times. "The India Pakistan peace process in the past few months

They Also Serve, Who are on Standby to Report

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:19:23 +0530
Ask many journalists, but particularly television journalists, what their most "alive" professional moment was- and the ugly dark truth - it's likely to be a catastrophe or a disaster of

Gandhigiri is Not About Coming Second

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 01:57:47 +0530
I know- no point flogging a dead horse, kicking a dog when its down, crying over spilled milk etc etc. But it is still a cause of amazement to me

De-nationalise Our Symbols If They Mean So Little

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 12:32:06 +0530
The Vande Mataram controversy seems to be over- a very brief, self-contained fire that died out without many embers left behind. Because for some political parties it was all

Watch them watch you as they die

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 12:51:09 +0530
As a man watches you watch him die - you can't simply carry on doing what you are doing - like it's just another story. I burnt myself making

INS Mumbai Dreams

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:09:19 +0530
Now this is a real exclusive, I think. No, not the story, but being the only woman for miles around as the INS Mumbai makes its way out of Larnaca

A walk in war zone

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 06:02:16 +0530
The security expert I spoke to before heading out to the South Beirut area called Dahyeh had two bits of advice. Don't go there without contacting a senior Hezbollah leader.

Cyprus chronicles

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 09:10:15 +0530
A wise man once said - if you see a building on fire with dozens of people rushing out, and few crazy men fighting to get in - chances are

Pakistan needs our help on terror not the other way around

editor@ibnlive.com — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 02:59:20 +0530
Mumbai's terror Tuesday, serves to convince us - if that was needed, that terror is not going away, that those that targeted commuters on the western local line, will also

The Prime Minister's Semi-circular Table

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 27 May 2006 11:00:59 +0530
Spies, I was told by my father - are trained to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom whenever they can. Because you never know when your next chance will

The Bon-fast of the Vanities

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 04:31:12 +0530
The facts should shock- unfortunately it is the personalities that do. It's been six years since the governments of four states and the centre assured the Supreme Court that

The Rites of Renunciation

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 02:41:58 +0530
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

The Mommy Mahabharata

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:08:12 +0530
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,

Stand Up and Take a Bow

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:01:14 +0530
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

Once Upon A Time There Was Outrage

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:53:56 +0530
The facts at first seemed confusing- many newspapers didn't even get the story that first morning after Jessica Lall was killed. It seemed easy at first to write it all

Darkness That Kills

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 05:47:26 +0530
The details of model-TV actor Kuljeet Randhawa's death are everywhere. Her body found hanging from a ceiling fan, an apparent case of suicide. I've heard many TV channels talk

No Gnu Taxes, Please!!!

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 06:37:37 +0530
It's february- it's spring, what joy, what fun.... oh hell. It's tax time. Time to start looking at all your papers for the year. First you decide how

On the Dilemma of Horns

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 12:54:01 +0530
On Makar Sankranti this year, I saw something beautiful.I was walking around the newsroom, where producers were busy preparing for our coverage of all the celebrations for the day. I

Say Nothing if it's a Girl

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:10:23 +0530
"Don't ask me whether you are having a boy or a girl, because I am not going to tell you," said the ultrasound specialist- a genial old friend of the

Guilt-Edged Metro

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 05:17:25 +0530
I know I am lucky to live in Delhi- when I was a child, my mother, a bombay-ite to the core (I still don't know whether that has changed to

Bangalore: No Lessons To Be Learned

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 05:55:52 +0530
It was a bright morning in Srinagar- and I was quite cheerful- I was going home to Delhi. We had been covering the breakdown of talks and the end of

Wave of reminisces

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 01:49:28 +0530
In the business of 24-hour news a year is an age. So many news flashes, news updates, breaking news situations, sometimes its hard to remember the details of a story