The Tenth Mumbai International Literary Festival
Thursday, November 14th to Sunday, November 17th 2019
March 19, 2019
March 20, 2019 Do people need to die for Swachh Bharat even if it is the Prime Chowkidar`s pet project? That, at least, was the excuse being bandied about after the foot over bridge (FOB) near VT/CST collapsed and six people died, with 31 injured. Apparently, towards the end of 2016, the rail terminus was […]
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March 16, 2019
The deadly terrorist attack in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir last month has triggered renewed questions about China’s continued protection of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed. Will China continue to block international sanctions against JeM’s leader, Maulana Masood Azhar, who has claimed credit for the attack? NEW DELHI – One can only hope that the latest […]
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March 14, 2019
Stephen Daldry is not a writer. But he is a storyteller, often being inspired by literary works such as in The Hours or The Reader. He uses the actor as his pen and the stage or screen as his parchment. However, it is not easy working across all three mediums. How do the audience expectations […]
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March 13, 2019
“Does a thousand-year-old sculpture worshipped in a thriving religion belong to a foreign museum or to the temple from which it was extracted?” That`s Shashi Tharoor in his Empire-bashing mood. The British Museum had just posted on-line its prized sandstone sculpture, saying “sculptural pieces like this, once decorated the outside of temples. Here the gods […]
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March 4, 2019
There are two challenges when you talk about Pakistan today. First, whether you focus on the history, geography or politics. And second, whatever tack you choose, where do you begin? I could have begun this National Interest, for example, with 2019, today, as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman returned home. I could have also chosen 2009, […]
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February 28, 2019
Our understanding of human pre-history is completely dependent on the material objects we uncover at archaeological digs. We attempt to reconstruct complex societies based on designs on a shard of clay or remains in a cup. But do these objects tell us their history or do we project our usage on them to reflect […]
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February 18, 2019
On Stage Anil Dharker March 2019 “Does a thousand-year-old sculpture worshipped in a thriving religion belong to a foreign museum or to the temple from which it was extracted?” That`s Shashi Tharoor in his Empire-bashing mood. The British Museum had just posted on-line its prized sandstone sculpture, saying “sculptural pieces like this, once decorated the […]
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January 1, 2019
Goodbye 2018! by Anil dharker How do you define a year? A good way is to look at the buzz words that dominated conversation over its 12 months. The buzziest word was Disruption. We saw it in the three elections which BJP didn`t win. After Modi and Amit Shah`s ascension in the political scene from 2014 […]
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December 17, 2018
There are 1324 black spots on Maharashtra roads, more than double the previous year`s. Actually that`s a huge underestimation: there are billions and billions of black spots in Mumbai alone. In fact, the whole of Mumbai is a black spot. That`s because road accidents happen just about everywhere. If Kolkata is the City of Joy, […]
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November 26, 2018
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut is being disingenuous in claiming that it took only 17 mins for the Sena to bring down the Babri Masjid just like Bal Thackeray had when he claimed credit for it’s demolition Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut is simply being disingenuous in claiming that it took only 17 minutes for […]
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November 22, 2018
Mumbai Notebook November 21, 2018 The word ‘legend’ is too loosely used, but no one will dispute that Alyque Padamsee deserved to be called that. Not once, but twice over. First, of course, as an advertising man. Of all the iconic ads for which he is remembered, my own favourite is the Liril ad. […]
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