Kiran D. Tare

At Kuala Lumpur’s Rain Water Festival, music, tourism and urban order blend into a portrait of a modernising nation. After landing at Kuala Lumpur airport, the very first thing that catches your eye is its grandeur, neatness, and discipline. Despite the flow of people, there was no chaos. There was ease and spaciousness. Most importantly, there was no sign of the rush to overtake or get ahead of one another. The purpose of visiting Malaysia was to cover a unique and extraordinary festival. In...

Combative and relentlessly organised, Vijay’s chief aide is reshaping Tamil Nadu’s political grammar When actor-politician Vijay delivered a stunning performance in Tamil Nadu’s recent assembly elections, much of the public fascination centred on the star himself, who became Chief Minister by unseating the DMK’s M.K. Stalin. Yet, in the smoke-filled backrooms of Chennai’s political class, attention quickly shifted to a less theatrical but arguably more consequential figure: Aadhav Arjuna,...

In India’s political imagination, the Election Commission occupies a curious space. It is one of the republic’s most powerful constitutional bodies, yet it often behaves like a nervous clerk caught between warring political factions. That is partly why Gyanesh Kumar has become such a consequential figure, especially after his recent triumphal conduct of key Assembly polls, particularly that in the volatile eastern state of West Bengal. At a time when institutions are routinely accused of...