Das's memoir is evocative of a life well lived but interspersed with the angst of his times.

Two things have been said about Sita in all the obituaries of the past few days. That he was a political pragmatist and that he was a jolly fellow, always smiling and friendly. Both are attributes of a true Hyderabadi.

The focus has to be on good and transparent governance rather than the search for an alibi to explain domestic failures and bad governance.  

Recents events at the South Asian University and the views expressed by Muhammad Yunus on the need to revive SAARC point to a larger failure on the part of the Indian elite in dealing with our neighbourhood.

Japan's former PM Junichiro Koizumi had said that India lies at the centre of the vast Asian continent; there is a 'rising Asia' to India's East and an unstable Asia to India's West.

Shastri Ramachandaran's book on China is a reminder for Indian media organisations to look abroad.

While Naidu's demands on Modi may be restricted to the needs of Andhra Pradesh, he can play a constructive national role as the voice of a more federal polity.

Policies in Modi's second term, and the politics of his divisive and low level electoral campaign, played their part in the revival of the Congress's fortunes.

Electoral forecasting has also become intertwined with politics with many analysts and journalists becoming overtly partisan. If Kishor had shouted down his interlocutor on any other channel he may have got away with it.

There is an internal divide within the business class. Could Modi's sudden attack on the Ambani-Adani duo have been an attempt to please the MSME sector?

In the leadership that he has provided over the past decade, Modi has projected what is claimed to be 'strong' leadership. But he has rarely, if ever, demonstrated 'wise' leadership. And given the domestic and external environment today, India needs wise and mature leadership.

The US state department’s observations last week on the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the income-tax notices issued to the Congress party are only the latest signals of a deteriorating relationship.

At this week's event, hosted by CNN-News18, all the politicians invited are from the BJP. No one from any opposition party is advertised as a speaker. Even those that claim to promote 'journalism of courage' have become platforms for the powerful to voice their opinions to select elite audiences.

One must differentiate between those Indians who may have been forced to migrate decades ago as indentured labour but are now happily settled in their host countries, middle class migrants who are living comfortable lives overseas, and a working class migrating in desperation.

By not allowing the border issue, with China occupying newly acquired territory along the so-called "Line of Actual Control", to further mar the relationship, Prime Minister Modi has yielded space and conceded ground.

India, which has once again topped the global charts with respect to inward Dollar remittances, has been increasingly relying on foreign remittances from overseas Indians to manage its balance of payments.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not like being told his 'multi-alignment and voice of Global South' is New India's version of Old India's 'non-alignment and Third World solidarity'.     

From laser lights stabbing the New Delhi sky out of Bharata Mandapam, the venue of the G20 Summit, to the multi-coloured lighting of the Qutub Minar, kitsch has taken over from culture.

The 2023 edition of A.K. Damodaran's book, 'Jawaharlal Nehru: A Communicator and Democratic Leader' is a reminder of the Himalayan gap that has come to exist between the intellectual calibre of India's first PM and that of the contemporary political leadership.

If Indian politics walks down the path that Pakistan politics has walked and if the Indian elite, like their Pakistani counterparts, delink their own future from their country's, the chances that the Indian growth process too would slow down remains a possibility.