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Kochi khadi: Stiffer but with many possibilities

Designers from across the country share their One Zero Eight and khadi collaborative experience 



  • Life & Style

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Are tiny homes trending?

Priced ₹3 lakh-₹50 lakh, these flexible structures have caught the attention of homebuyers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Hyderabad and Maharashtra, says Avneesh Sood




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A crop of new-age schools in India now boasts of seamless designs, flexible furniture, and collaborative spaces

Meet the Indian designers doing away with cramped classrooms and dull walls and prioritising schools with flexible furniture, collaborative spaces, and interactive elements




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All roads to Milan

At the world’s premier design event, Salone del Mobile, which concludes on April 23, some of the edgy designs that caught this writer’s eye




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Ceramist Rahul Kumar’s installations in his new show are a deviation from his previous experiments with clay

Ceramic artist Rahul Kumar’s tenth solo exhibition, The Untold Resides Somewhere, is a labyrinth of emotive, lexical and metaphorical expressions for “preserving the discarded”



  • Life & Style

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The World Cup as a farewell tour for top players is well established 

There’s something about a World Cup campaign that evokes thoughts of completion and a curiosity in other aspects of life.




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Political Line | Inspector Praveen, inspired by The New York Times

The Delhi police FIR and NYT reporting on foreign influence operations share the same outlook




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The Israel model, and Indian realities | Political Line

Many in India view Israel as a model for its own security and progress. They have a lot to ponder.




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ICC World Cup | It takes more than just teams to make a match; fans are important too 

In denying visas for fans from Pakistan for the cricket world cup, India have displayed a churlishness that sits badly on a nation of its size and influence




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Political Line | Digital mohalla sabhas, and international relations

Diplomacy has been democratised. But there is a little trouble — the grand plans of strategic elites are increasingly constrained by public opinion, in India and all democracies, as the world stares into a new abyss.




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Memories of Bishan Bedi — a man of integrity, wisdom and wit

Bishan Singh Bedi always spoke his mind; diplomacy was an alien concept. Yet, even if you didn’t agree with him, you knew his ideas came from a place of purity and concern.




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Column | An accidental cruelty

Why healing others can come at a personal price, and words of comfort can cause more harm than good



  • Life & Style

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In sport, you often learn more from a defeat than from a victory 

If England is a shining example for its approach to Test cricket, their One-Day International approach is a warning.




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Corrections and Clarifications — November 7, 2023




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Corrections and Clarifications — November 11, 2023




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Between hope and hubris: Innocence, glumness, despair, gratitude after the World Cup final

This is sport. Unexpectedness and upsets are what it thrives on.




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Column | The unbearable weight of opinions

Why are we often obsessed with what others are going to think, asks Phuphee




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Sportsmen have a platform — some use it well, others waste it

In a country of a billion and a half, you can’t make a statement without millions finding fault with it. Social media trolls are a menace, so players keep out of their way.




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Political Line | The point of the temple




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Corrections and Clarifications — December 26, 2023




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Ind vs SA | Moving an event from the rare to the commonplace

A win abroad overcomes a mental barrier. The series following the one where India won in Australia for the first time, they won again. That is why it is important for India to win in South Africa.




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SA Test team controversy | This might be an inflexion point in the game, but we need to care

Test cricket may be rushing to its end faster than we imagined, and in the next decade younger fans will need to be told what it was and why it no longer existed




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Column | Inside the coastal Muslim kitchen

From kuzhi paniyarams with Dutch ties to the local cousin of the East African injera, Tamil Nadu’s coastal food shows us that history is preserved not just in our museums but also in our kitchens




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Cape Town Test | Sport, like art, need not make sense; it can be enjoyed still

You can put down the below-par performances in the Cape Town Test to technical deficiencies in batting, yet you come to the philosophical question: Can we really know anything for certain? Also, does everything have to make sense?




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Ranji Trophy | A golden jubilee, and time to name the stands after the greats

Fifty years on, since Karnataka famously won the Ranji Trophy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, we should ask ourselves, wouldn’t it be wonderful to sit in the Viswanath stand or cheer from the Prasanna enclosure?




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Ind vs Eng Tests | India’s home record is formidable; Bazball is England’s best chance

Will Bazball work in India? Theoretically, there is no reason why it shouldn’t, but in practical terms, there are two reasons. One of them is Ravichandran Ashwin and the other Ravindra Jadeja.




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Political Line | Faith and the nation




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Corrections and Clarifications — January 30, 2024




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Test cricket | West Indies give us a peep into the past, England into the future

If fortune favours the brave, it also tends to desert the timid, which is what India were in the Hyderabad Test




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Budget 2024: Prudent as expected with promise of bigger things

The government stuck to the theme as it raised the capex outlay for the coming financial year to Rs.11.11 lakh crore, an increase of 11%




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Budget 2024 | An action-oriented Budget, with the mantra of reforming, performing and transforming India

The continued focus on increased capital investments will result in generation of employment opportunities while MSME-centric initiatives will help them compete globally; the Budget also promotes sustainable growth  




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Budget 2024 | The pace of fiscal consolidation took everyone by surprise

‘The underlying theme was clearly fiscal consolidation with an ability to maintain the infrastructure spends at the existing run rate’




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IND vs ENG Tests | This could finish as the finest series ever played in India




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Ind vs Eng Tests | The way things fit together is the essence of good selection

Selection cannot be an exact science; there are too many variables from differing match conditions to untested mental abilities of the players. And luck, of course.




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Column | Gulkhand and a clouded mind

Not all ‘curses’ should be ignored, as Phuphee proves — this time with medical help and a bowl of ice cream




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Political Line | Glories of our past — two notions that shape our present




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Ind vs Eng Tests | Dreams come true when you hold on to them against the odds

Not so long ago our best players came from the cities and traditional centres: Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai. For a little over a generation now, they have emerged from the old backwaters. This continues.




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Corrections and Clarifications — March 1, 2024




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Ashwin, a modern master with a positive mindset

In many ways, Ashwin stands alone. He is constantly experimenting, constantly pushing himself, and always fighting two battles every time he steps onto the field.




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A mature Kuldeep Yadav was the quiet success of the India-England Test series

Kuldeep Yadav made his mark over a decade ago and now, as he says, he has begun to understand his bowling. Wrist spin is a difficult art, one of the toughest in the game.




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Kohli and Rohit know the formula to earn one final hurrah

Ahead of the T20 World Cup, the progress made by India’s two best batters will be followed even more keenly as the IPL unfolds




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Column | When Phuphee became a ‘village’

With the birth of a baby you gain something precious, but you also lose something of yourself. This is when support and a sisterhood become essential




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IPL-17 | What the heck – more humour, less uniformity, please!

Surely in the thousands of spectators across the country, there is someone with a sense of humour, someone who can raise a heckle without raising a hackle.




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Political Line | Unity and divisiveness: in the eye of the beholder




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IPL | When players go beyond cliches and illuminate the format

Occasionally a line emerges that causes the kind of surprise a maiden over might.




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Column | Legacy of India’s courtesans

Patrons of fashion and design, tawaifs weren’t mere entertainers. Their stories still inspire, as explored in Netflix’s new series, Heeramandi




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Column | Strength of a snowflake

Phuphee’s lesson on celebrating the power of individuality




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Political Line | Keywords of 2024: Communalism, casteism, and constitutionalism




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When Belgian policemen become Catholic priests 

There exists a literary practice where old favourites are given fresh adventures by later writers. These are mostly well written, and respect the backstories the original authors gave their characters




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Political Line | Kejriwal, out and about