Corruption, scam, nepotism — modern words for an ancient failure. Can Kautilya hold today’s politicians accountable? Ami Ganatra anchors the discussion in Mahabharata’s Shanti Parva, where Bhishma explains that “raja” derives from ranja — the delight and welfare of the people. Chanakya’s Arthashastra is brought in to argue that a ruler has no personal preferences; what benefits the praja is the only standard. The panel examines Vibhishana’s defection as a case study in dharmic loyalty over personal allegiance, and Shri...

India’s government claims Netaji died in 1945 — yet won’t release the documents, 60 years later. Anuj Dhar demands answers. Dhar and Ghose chronicle how decades of Congress and Left-party rule created an intellectual ecosystem where official narratives couldn’t be questioned — even about the man the British had formally designated Enemy No. 1. Netaji raised two governments-in-exile, two armies across two continents, and his Indian National Army reached Imphal and Kohima, fighting what historians consider one of WWII’s greatest battles....

Nehru_s_First_Recruits__The_Diplomats_Who_Built_Independent_India_s_Foreign_Policy.srt Nehru’s first diplomats shaped India’s foreign policy in the most volatile decade in world history — author Kallol Bhattacherjee tells the inside story at Kashmir Lit Fest. At the Srikula Foundation’s Kashmir Literary Festival in Srinagar, journalist Kallol Bhattacherjee discusses his book Nehru’s First Recruits — a narrative account of the IFS officers who built Independent India’s foreign policy from 1947 onward. Former Foreign Secretary...

Every Indian is more or less aware of the partition of India, in 1947, for the good or the worse. For some even after multiple generations, it is a wound, that is far from healing, for there is next to no effort has been made to provide any restitution or even any kind of solace..

Sanjeev Sanyal and Chandrachud Ghose discuss Sachindranath Sanyal's book 'Bandi Jeevan: A Life in Captivity', which offers a gripping firsthand account of the early phase of India's struggle for independence. Sanjeev Sanyal highlights his family's roots..