For The Tribune | February 17, 2012 Punjab lost Chandigarh in 1966. In 1968 Lachman Singh Gill became Chief Minister for a short while....

The sky is brassy, the trees, the birds and even the monkeys from Raisina Hill who regularly traipse through my garden, long for water to...

Rural Punjab retains its spirit and inventiveness; the Sutlej is another story For Outlook | June 27, 2011 At the end of May, I undertook...

On how the Sawhneys became big purveyors of fine spirits For Outlook | March 14, 2011 I went to school in St George's, Mussoorie. Some...

Dunhuang’s majestic Buddhist murals ought to be known better here For Outlook | November 22, 2010 Recently, I spent two days in Shanghai,...

For Outlook | July 12, 2010 Over The Ridge In mid-19th century, Capt Charles Kennedy rode up to the deodar-covered Shimla Ridge from the...

A people’s initiative for hockey with lessons to learn from For Outlook | May 17, 2010 This April, I had a chance to visit the Kodagu...

I am impressed with what Sujit Saraf, from IIT and Berkeley, has achieved in this book. For Outlook | March 13, 2010 Sultana Daku lived...

Bangladesh’s development story surprised me. The figures given by our embassy were impressive; a growth rate of 6.9 per cent and, what is...

When we went to the Shivpuri jungle in 1950, daaku Maan Singh was the great Robin Hood of India. He was a romantic figure... For Outlook...

The Chandigarh of Nehru and Corbusier has almost become a curiosity for a stream of visitors from the West who continue to see him as a...

As the Shatabdi wended its way south, we passed a continuous landscape of dusty fields with dispirited men and cattle, all wandering in...

India-Pakistan cricket fed a chauvinist imperative for decades. The liberal wind in the willows changed all that. For Outlook | August...

For Outlook | June 1, 2009 The fleeting Indian spring is gone and summer is upon us. But the trees continue to offer surprises every day....

For Outlook | December 1, 2008 These days I once again have the temporary use of a Lutyens bungalow. As we did when we lived on Akbar...

Empire's marionette, Duleep Singh could only align his life with an idle absurdity For Outlook | November 3, 2008 Maharaja Ranjit Singh...

For Outlook | September 29, 2008 My love affair with the Himalayas started in 1961 when I trained at the Himalayan Mountaineering...

Republic Day was always long on ceremony, now it's short on grace too For Outlook | February 16, 2008 I saw the Republic Day parade for...

For Outlook | September 3, 2007 Pre-1966, the Beas-Kangra valley was part of the Punjab. My early service was spent in that beautiful...