India now has a 29th state. Telangana. It was six decades in the making, the fruit of a strong separatist movement that argued neglect by successive governments and finally succeeded in breaking off a chunk of land from Andhra Pradesh. The man who once went on a hunger strike in defense of Telangana, K. Chandrashekar Rao, became its first chief minister Monday. The celebrations began Sunday … Continue reading No longer one
By Friday afternoon, everything should become clear. Who did more than 500 million voters choose to lead India? India’s day of reckoning is here. Election results will be announced soon. All week, there has been so much speculation and interpretation of exit polls that my head is spinning. By all guesses, Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party will become the next prime minister of … Continue reading India's day of reckoning
Today was the last day of polling in India’s mammoth parliamentary elections. Five weeks of voting; Nine polling days; 814 million eligible voters; 543 Lok Sabha (lower House) seats. From all the exit polling I’ve seen, it looks like the worst loss ever for the Indian National Congress, the party of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi that for so many years led an independent India. … Continue reading Looking like change in India
My story on a home for the dying in Varanasi, India, came out on CNN.com today. I spent a week reporting in the fabled holy city and was fascinated by its spirituality much more this time than I was on previous trips. Part of it was because I was reporting on faith. But another part of it was that I think I have transformed over the … Continue reading Hotel Death
We lost another amazing journalist today. Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an acclaimed photographer for the Associated Press, died instantly after an Afghan policeman opened fire while they were sitting in their car in eastern Afghanistan, the AP said. Correspondent Kathy Gannon was wounded and is in stable condition in hospital. “Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there. Anja was … Continue reading Sad news from Afghanistan
I’ve been immersed in writing about death after spending a week in Varanasi at a home where ailing, elderly Hindus go to end their lives. They want to die there because they believe dying within the boundaries of the ancient city of Kashi will mean moksha, or salvation for the soul. The story — I will write more about that later — took me back to … Continue reading Death: I've had 13 years to think
Get this: Starting on April 7, nearly 815 million Indians will begin casting ballots in this year’s parliamentary elections. Yes, 815 million! That’s almost 100 million more than there were in the last election in 2009. How to accommodate the huge number of estimate voters in the world’s most populous democracy? Polling is staggered over nine days: April 7, 9, 10, 12, 17, 24, 30 and May … Continue reading The world's biggest election
Varanasi or Benares, as the British called it, is known for a lot of things. It’s one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, the oldest, certainly, in India. It is the holiest of seven holy cities for Hindus, known as Kashi in olden times. The might Ganges, flows through here and yes, thousands of people visit Benares every year. Hindus come here for … Continue reading Varanasi (aka Benares, aka Kashi)
I’d never been to Goa until last week. My cousin Rahul and his wife Shraya moved to Goa several years ago but I hadn’t had a chance to visit them on my rapid-fire trips to India before. The western state in India is a haven for tourists who flock to its beaches and revel in a culture that is far more progressive than in other … Continue reading Going to Goa
In my childhood, there weren’t too many Bengali women who had made it big enough to attain celebrity status. But there was Suchitra Sen, goddess of cinema. Her films, usually with Uttam Kumar, were wildly popular in Kolkata. To me, Sen was the ultimate beauty. She had a certain Bengaliness about her. She was feminine but strong. She had a “no-nonsense gravitas to care out … Continue reading Suchitra
