Heed Favourite Economist’s Advice
"It is no secret that Professor Arvind Panagariya is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's favourite economist," writes P Chidambaram in an opinion piece for The Indian Express, underlining the various reforms that the former has asked the Union government to implement this year.
In a recent article, Dr Panagariya complimented the government with the words "2025 will go down in history as the year of economic reforms in India". Chidambaram says, "He [Panagariya] knows that it is not true", adding that his recommendations are a "subtle dig" at the Centre.
"Dr Panagariya’s article may be a bellwether of what to expect in Budget 2026-27 or an expression of his frustration. If the government heeds his advice, I shall celebrate and urge him to outline the next six or sixty steps. Remember, India has miles to go."P Chidambaram
The Quiet Revolution of Lovers in the Park
"There is no social rebellion bigger than the one nonchalantly mounted by lovers in a park," says Nishtha Gautam in an article for Hindustan Times.
If one wants to know about a culture, community, city or country, one should look at how lovers in a park are treated, Gautam asserts, adding that lovers of the present draw strength from the lovers of the past "who gallivanted, hand in hand, breath to breath, in the same parks".
"Lovers choosing to meet in a park are defying not just the moral certitudes of a society but also the socio-economic stratification that allows no space for the desires of the less fortunate to be expressed. In that sense, a kiss at dusk in a park between a homosexual couple or an interfaith heterosexual couple is a bigger sign of modernity than anything else that would transpire in the backseat of a luxury car at midnight."Nishtha Gautam
Take Action Fast To Deter Nepal From Going The Bangladesh Way
In an article for Deccan Chronicle, Bhopinder Singh underlines the various subtle issues that plague ties between India and Nepal. He urges the Indian government to exercise caution while dealing with its South Asian neighbour.
Over the years, Nepalis increasingly believe that New Delhi harbours a paternalistic and interventionist sense of entitlement, which makes India view Nepal as a "vassal state", Singh argues.
Drawing parallels between the student-led uprisings that took place in Bangladesh and Nepal, he says that while both revolts were triggered by unemployment, corruption and democratic backsliding, in Nepal it was directed against a collective class of politicians and not just one individual (Sheikh Hasina, in the case of Bangladesh).
"India must keep an avowed “distance” and offer support to whichever leader emerges, as Nepal is ready for a “reset”, where historical issues are expected to take a back seat and socio-economic development becomes paramount. Co-option with grace and dignity will go a long way to avoiding the situation of the past, or even regressing to becoming another Bangladesh."Bhopinder Singh
Urban Maturity and Limits of Compassion
In an opinion piece for The Statesman, Pravin Kaushal reflects on recent observations made by the Supreme Court, which suggested that dog feeders should be held accountable for dog bite incidents—views that have triggered outrage among animal welfare advocates.
He says that this debate must confront a harsh truth: much of modern dog keeping and unregulated feeding is driven by emotional substitution rather than animal-centric thinking. But problems arise when private emotional needs spill into shared public spaces without responsibility.
"A critical distinction must be made between loving animals and keeping animals responsibly," Kaushal says, adding:
"This gap fuels resentment and conflict. Public discomfort with stray dogs is often moralised as hatred. This is dishonest. Fear of injury – especially among children and the elderly – is legitimate. Dog bites are not abstract statistics; they result in trauma, stitches, infection risks, and lifelong fear."Pravin Kaushal
Money Spent on Davos Holidays Could Be Used To Clean Up Our Cities
In her weekly column for The Indian Express, Tavleen Singh argues that there is no reason for Indian taxpayers to pay for chief ministers to go to Davos every year to attend the World Economic Forum.
"As someone who has attended the WEF's annual meeting more than 30 times, believe me when I say that all that our politicians do is waste our money on winter holidays that they should pay for with their own money," Singh says.
On the contrary, she says that the same money can be used to improve hundreds of basic civic services. For instance, it can be used to clean our cities and improve the toxic air we are forced to breathe, and to build low-cost housing so that migrant workers are not forced to live in squalid slums.
"If our politicians attended these sessions where the most important issues of the day are discussed and came home with new ideas, it might be worth allowing them to go. They attend only the sessions in which they are participants because they think of themselves as too grand to listen to other people. There are exceptions who genuinely go to learn about the world’s changes and new developments, but I can count them on the fingers of one hand."Tavleen Singh
Trump’s Board of Peace: What Is Really On His Mind?
In an article for Greater Kashmir, Surinder Singh Oberoi asks a pivotal question: Is Trump's Board of Peace an honest attempt to bring peace to Gaza, where the United Nations has failed so far, or is it an effort to build a parallel global body which is tightly controlled by the US and Trump himself?
Asserting that the latter is true, Oberoi says that Trump has long believed that the UN is ineffective, biased against the US, and dominated by empty talk. In his eyes, the UN restricts the US' freedom to act.
The Board of Peace, Oberoi says, means fewer rules, fewer voices, and greater US control.
"The world does not need more international institutions; it needs better and more effective ones. The United Nations, especially the Security Council, certainly requires reform. However, bypassing the UN altogether is only going to create a dangerous precedent where more chaos will be witnessed. If the Board of Peace is to function, its role must be clearly defined, its funding must be transparent, and its actions must be in line with the existing international law."Surinder Singh Oberoi
A Shrinking of Art in Our Literature, Films & Music
"Is there an audience out there that wants to hear good poetry, memorable for its intrinsic content? Or are they happy with merely clever rhyming?" asks Pavan K Varma in an article for Hindustan Times.
The larger question, he argues, is whether language itself is reducing itself to the lowest common denominator of just basic communication, instead of the elegance of literature.
In film music as well, there seems to be an obsession with simplistic beats, loud and repetitive, without the enduring seduction of either melody or the timeless tradition of rhythm that twins tune and meter to mathematical precision.
"I understand that perhaps people have less time now. It is an age of instant gratification, where culture has become more like fast food, with little patience for the aromas and beguiling taste that comes with slow-cooking and age-old culinary expertise. Yet, it must remain a challenge, particularly for ancient civilisations like ours, how we preserve some of the traditions of the old in spite of the constraints of the new."Pavan K Varma
The Reasons Why India Needs An Open Budget
The ritual of budget secrecy, argues Manish Tewari, shrouded in colonial-era mystery and enforced with a theatrical severity symbolised by the infamous “Budget Bunker”, stands as an anachronism in a 21st-century democracy striving for transparency and participatory governance.
In an article for Deccan Chronicle, he says that this tradition, wherein the Union Budget is opened only on the appointed day in Parliament, is less a pillar of prudent economic management and more a relic of a bygone colonial mindset.
The origins of "budget secrecy" can be traced to Robert Walpole, Britain’s first Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1733, opponents of Walpole derided his tax proposals as a magician’s trick, publishing a pamphlet captioned “The Budget Opened” that framed the fiscal plan as a “grand mystery” revealed from a “bag of tricks".
"This practice was imported and intensified in British India, where the budget was a tool of imperial extraction, not democratic negotiation. The budget bunker of today’s North Block is the direct descendant of a colonial fortress mentality, a physical manifestation of the state’s insistence on monologue over dialogue."Manish Tewari
World Heritage as a Bridge in a Divided World
In an opinion piece for The New Indian Express, Siddhaant Mohta says that a confluence of various religions and cultures can be seen in several heritage sites across India.
For instance, the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra offer a compelling starting point. Ajanta’s murals are not merely religious expressions. Painted with pigments sourced from distant lands, including lapis lazuli likely imported from Central Asia and the Iranian Plateau, the murals depict Buddhist narratives alongside foreign merchants and elaborate textiles.
Similarly, India’s Indo-Islamic architectural heritage—seen in the Taj Mahal, Humayun’s Tomb, Fatehpur Sikri and the Red Fort—reflects the fusion of Persian, Central Asian and Indian design traditions, he says.
"For young India, this inheritance carries both responsibility and opportunity. In a world increasingly fragmented by geopolitics and inequality, heritage offers a non-confrontational path to leadership. By investing in conservation, research and global cultural engagement, India can position its World Heritage Sites as spaces where the Global North and South meet on equal terms."Siddhaant Mohta