The Grand JNU Narrative I arrived in JNU on a clear, balmy August afternoon of 1990. The subsequent 4 years I spent there, first as an MA then as an M. Phil student in Linguistics, were one of the most formative for a middle-class next-door guy from Patna. I owe a lot to my JNU education and overall I have a very fond memory of being there. I learned from some of the most outstanding teachers and Acharyas, met some of the brightest young minds of India, and developed lifelong friendship with many. Amidst the cacophony of all those fierce dhaba debates, post-dinner talks in the dining halls, GBMs, and JNUSU presidential debates, etc., JNU helped me carve out my own path for which I am ever indebted to my alma mater. On that first day, as I walked along the narrow winding streets atop the Aravali hills, I tried to soak in the naturally endowed beauty all around the 1,000-acre sprawl of the JN...
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A HISTORIAN, NOT A SLAVE TO FACTS
(A version of this article appeared in the Pioneer 's Oped, on August 4, 2016 l) Ramchandra Guha’s penchant for ignoring and twisting the facts at piddling ease and indulging in partisan opinion making renders him as what Arun Shourie once called ‘Eminent Historians’. A part-time historian, part-time media personality has opinions on everything under the Sun – from cricket to politics and everything in between, including of course, history. And Guha is everywhere – from the confines of a posh TV studio to seminar halls to newspapers. But this is where his eminence ends. When the facts become dispensable and opinions aplenty, a Ramchandra Guha is born. In the thick of the controversy surrounding the renaming of Delhi’s Auranghzeb Road to Abdul Kalam Road, Guha presented this gem in his column in the Hindustan Times: “Why not have a road named after the greatest modern scientists of India, CV Raman?” The way backward and a way forward, b...
Who is to blame for Bihar's fake toppers?
Ruby Rai, Bihar's Fake Topper Arrested Who doesn't like to be famous and be interviewed by the press, TV channels, etc? When the TV camera arrived at house of Miss. Ruby Roy, a 17-year old teenager, she probably was thrilled. Little did she know that this little chat with the TV channel will change her life. After being declared the topper in Political Science stream in the entire state of Bihar in the recently concluded exams, the TV camera called knocking at her door. But in her now famous TV interview she failed to answer some of the basic questions about the subject stream she had aced. For example, Political Science, she said teaches cooking. This two minutes of fame meant that her results, along with many others', were invalidated. It exposed a deep-rooted corruption in education in Bihar which resulted in many, including Miss Roy being charged of criminal offenses and arrested. That's a quick turnaround in the life of a 17-year o...