The Putin-Modi meet revealed that to a West accustomed to narrative monopoly, India’s independence of thought and action feels like apostasy. There is a familiar ritual now whenever India exercises independent foreign policy. Visceral outrage erupts on Western social media, with a section of their commentators, policy experts, journalists and even some historians suddenly transforming themselves from calm (and condescending) rational Western ‘liberals’ into foaming-at-the-mouth Cassandras,...

19-year-old Devvrat Rekhe has revived one of Hinduism’s most forbidding oral rituals, proving Bharat’s ancient faith has not yet lost its voice in an age of consumption and constant noise. Earlier this week, as the winter light thinned over the Ghats of Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paused from his usual duties of state to applaud a feat that belonged to a far older civilisation than the modern republic he governs. Modi, himself the Member of Parliament from the holy city, hailed the...

Hitherto India’s most combative cricketer, Gautam Gambhir now faces the most bruising test of his leadership following India’s humiliating Test defeats on home turf . Gautam Gambhir built a reputation on defiance. As a batsman he thrived on hostility, noise and pressure. He was, at his best, a specialist in moments that made others flinch. India’s two most defining white-ball victories of the modern era - World T20 2007 and the World Cup final of 2011 - were shaped by Gambhir’s unlikely...