Eighteen years can be an eternity in politics: on the 6th of September, 1990, a stirring speech was made in parliament criticizing the Mandal commission report. "If you believe in a casteless society, every major step you take must be such that you move towards a casteless society. And you...

Life in exile can be a sobering, as well as a gastronomic experience. Within weeks of the 2004 general elections, I happened to be in Jeddah and was taken to the palatial home of then exiled Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Over endless cups of Kashmiri kahwa, an exotic range...