Tamil non-vegetarian cuisine two millennia ago
From K T Achaya’s wonderful little book, The Story of Our Food (pages 78-79):
Many animal foods are described with great relish in the early Tamil literature.
Even Brahmins did not lack relish for the meat and toddy served to them at feasts held by the chieftains and princes of the [...]
Can you stomach the truth?
Most people—most of all South Indians—react to this with shock and denial. Some go on and come to terms with it.
Well, the fact is the idli—a dish that is almost synonymous with South India—was probably an import from what is now Indonesia (and what was then the Sri Vijaya empire). This [...]
It’s a bad idea to interlock India’s energy supplies with Pakistan. Period.
It was a stupid idea right from the start. Of course, it looks a lot more stupid now. Swaminathan Aiyar points out why the IPI gas pipeline project should now be officially declared dead. But you don’t have to read Mr Aiyar’s article at [...]
Competition in zero-sum games, co-operation in positive-sum games
My op-ed in today’s Mint is a synthesis of several posts and discussions on this blog. Many of you might rightly say that it is stating the obvious. But sometimes the obvious has to be stated as well (and the need to do so is not always so [...]
The Indian East Company
Rajendra Chola’s eleventh century naval expedition across the Bay of Bengal and the conquest of Southeast Asian kingdoms was, according to John Keay, one of “those rare examples of Indian aggression beyond the frontiers of the subcontinent”. The question that intrigues historians is just why did the Cholas embark on such a [...]
It is easy to take a moral position when there is little cost to it
Before China publicly signaled its opposition to clearing the decks for India at the Nuclear Suppliers Group, six small states were instrumental in throwing a spanner in the works. They opposed the first draft of the proposal to unconditionally lift the [...]
Why India must strengthen its military presence in Afghanistan
In today’s op-ed in Mint Sushant and I call for India to increase its troop levels in Afghanistan. A slightly edited version of the following appeared in print.
Image: Malay Karmakar/Mint
Afghanistan exported US$1 billion worth of drugs last year. In contrast, its pomegranate exports amounted to [...]
Can Pakistan make the change?
While the crisis in Pakistan’s international and domestic politics gets a lot of attention, arguably the more worrisome one is the one enveloping its economy. To even attempt to address these crises, Pakistanis must change their mindsets towards India. Why, there is resistance to even accord India a most-favoured nation (MFN) [...]
Issue Contents
PERSPECTIVE
Liberals, culture and nationalism Ravikiran S Rao
An opportunity exists for a new politics
Changing the broken wheel Raj Cherubal
The secular-right must champion economic freedom
Towards “that heaven of freedom” Gautam Bastian
A free nation of free citizens
Out of court Rohit Pradhan, Shashi Shekhar & Mukul Asher
Carry on the battle, but respect the court’s verdict
FILTER
India as a rising [...]
It’s about 53 countries, not one continent
It is, no doubt, a convenient shorthand to refer to “Africa policy”. But it is really about developing relations with over 50 countries that make up the African continent. There are signs that India is recognising this relatively better than other countries.
In an op-ed in Mint, Mukul Asher [...]
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