Tara Balgopal, 80, was one of India’s most loved danseuse, honouring whom the government had released a postal stamp in 1975. She was one of the most famous performers of Kathak, Kathakali and Bharatanatyam in the country. But Balgopal now only has a copy of the stamp to live with. Her financial condition is miserable and she has received none of the benefits that usually come with artistic fame. In […]

“It is India’s right to have a permanent seat in UN Security Council”, thundered PM Narendra Modi recently, addressing the Indian Diaspora in Paris. Modi has now visited over 20 countries in an official capacity, unprecedented for any Indian prime minister in such a short span of time. We have almost reached the qualifying mark, but we are still struggling for a rightful place in the Permanent Security Council! The […]

In Pic :Nehru smiles as Che Guevara gifts him a box of Cuban cigars. Despite his own convictions, Che Guevara understood India’s non-violent resistance as arising from a cultural context in which war was distant from the spirit of the people Jean-Paul Sartre was impressed enough by Ernesto Che Guevara (1928-1967) to call him “the most complete human being of our age” after Che’s death. It was a reference to […]