On a bright December afternoon in Kolkata, I watched a handful of young women throw their arms in the air, swirl the scarves of their salwar kameez and leap from one end of the courtyard to the other. They danced their cares away. Literally. The women had all been forced into prostitution or into abusive relationships. Dance was their therapy. For some, it was their only joy … Continue reading Wonderwomen
I have been corresponding with K.S. Narendran for almost a year now. His wife, Chandrika Sharma, was one of the passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 when it vanished from the skies on March 8, 2014. He recently shared with me how he has been coping. He spoke with me by email, phone and Skype from his home in Chennai, India. The story was published … Continue reading Missing plane tragedy, one year later
A few weeks ago, when President Barack Obama visited India, I wrote a piece for CNN about how my homeland was poised to become a global power in the next few decades. The most recent World Bank forecast says growth in India is likely to outdo China’s. But then came a sobering reminder of the widespread poverty in India. The latest Census data says … Continue reading They own nothing. ZERO.
Below is what K.S. Narendran, husband of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 passenger Chandrika Sharma, posted on his Facebook page on the 6-month anniversary of the plane’s disappearance. I have admired his fortitude since I first spoke with him in March and his incredibly poignant expressions of his ordeal. So I thought I would share. You can read my CNN story on him here: A hole … Continue reading Reflections on a fresh start
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
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
When I first started out in my career as a reporter, most of the journalists I admired were from America or Europe. There were very few English-language journalists in my homeland who really stood out. Khushwant Singh was an exception. Singh died Thursday at his home in Delhi. He was 99 and by all accounts, he’d led an incredibly full life. Still, he will be … Continue reading With Malice Toward One and All. A legendary writer is silenced
