Being indispensable for somebody is a commendable achievement-to be absolutely necessary implies great potential as a resource and being able to provide some service, without which, you cannot sustain. When the idea of 'being indispensable' is placed in larger context of society and its structure, however or whatever assumes that role is of intense importance to that socie...

The horror stories from Nigeria of the rescued women and girls have hammered our minds. It was a tremor that ripped through our modernized version of society, exposing the powerlessness of our global society. It mocks state as an institution in totality, not only in the North African Nation. The actions following the abduction of 275 girls was expected, orderly and in appropriate amount. There was global media outcry, followed by a “hash-...

Child labor is a malaise that has grown in proportion to the population with each passing day adding some vulnerable person under fourteen to the labor force. The issue has been tried to be dealt with from various quarters, using both policy and action, but it gets back to us, in a larger form. If we start with the question of why bring up this issue to discussion would be doing ourselves morally wrong. If the circumstances in our society have created a demand for...

Democracy is a system that has evolved over a long period of time. However, to deliver its fruits to the people takes time. When we look at developed countries, democracy has delivered to the people of those countries after a hundred or more years. According to American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s theory on the hierarchy of needs, the basic need that an individual has is that o...

The recent assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra show that the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has reclaimed its space in urban constituencies and is now rapidly adding rurban areas-seats having rural administrative structure but mimic urban living-to its sphere of influence. 

In Haryana, the BJP increased its rural and urban (rurban) seats in the assembly from three in 2009 to 27 in 2014. In Maharashtra, over the same period, the party more than doubled its presence in urban...