Columns

August 8, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Tyranny of distance

In an emotionally surcharged and polarised polity, even riot politics can become a zero-sum game. So any television debate on Gujarat 2002 must necessarily draw an analogy to the...

July 25, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Game for democracy

July 26, 2012 These are not the happiest of times for the aam admi. A paralysed government, an obstructionist opposition, an economy in decline, a deficit monsoon, why even...

July 11, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Don’t play it safe

Salman Khurshid is easily among the brightest politicians in the country: a former Oxford don, he became a union minister at 38. When he speaks, it is with a...

June 27, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Clash of the titans

Before a major heavyweight boxing title bout, there are sideshows on the day’s entertainment. Call it a teaser or a trailer, the aim is to whet the appetite of ...

June 14, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

No questions, please

Move over George Bush, Baba Ramdev is here. In the course of a recent interview, I asked India’s tele-friendly yoga guru-turned-black money avenger, the source of his great wealth....

May 30, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

It’s a cosy little club

Politicians are notorious for doublespeak, which is why their public positions are often dictated to by private agendas. So when a Lalu Prasad calls for a ban on the...

May 17, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

No laughing matter

The grand old man of Indian cartooning RK Laxman has a delightful anecdote that embodies the charm of political cartooning. Soon after the 1962 Sino-Indian war, Laxman lampooned Prime...

April 18, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Not a luxury suite

Five years ago, one ‘almost’ broke the story of India’s next president. Amid feverish speculation, a source sent an SMS: “Congratulations! India is getting its first woman president and...

April 4, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

No country for saints

It is not without reason that AK Antony is referred to as ‘Saint’ Antony. When you’ve spent four decades in public life and don’t have a whiff of a...

March 24, 2012
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Orders from HQ

Forget a week being a long time in politics, in India it can take just a few hours for a zero to become a hero and vice versa. On...