Varsha Bhosle	Back

On wazwans and elections   - October 14, 2002
'The BJP is striving to keep the Centre while letting the Congress do all the hard work in the state. And that's why they've avoided Constitutionally putting to rest the bogie of Sonia as PM.'

More "involved explorations"   - October 7, 2002
'Do you think this is a new argument Bhosle's dug up? That the Sena lawyers were blind to this discrepancy? Rubbish! The Srikrishna Report is absolutely littered with such inconsistencies!'

The Akshardham aftermath   - September 30, 2002
'Is there a single "public" in India whose opinion needs to be built against terrorism?! The BJP-led government shrinks and demurs like a virgin bride!! And they have the nerve to blame the Indian people for their own ineptitude and spinelessness!'

Passivity does not a nation protect   - September 26, 2002
'Akshardham is the FIRST fidayeen attack aimed at the massacre of Indian civilians outside Jammu & Kashmir. And, there will be more...'

Back to the future   - September 23, 2002
'Indeed, the NGOs, "secularists," etc, have founded an entire industry based on laying all the evils at the door of Hindutva.'

What's the Hindu bias in that?!   - September 16, 2002
'If Dr Joshi hadn't dared to single-handedly take on the pinkos, there would have been no case, no ruling, no vindication of his policy of curricular restructuring, and no triumph.'

Towards Balkanisation, V: Adivasis   - September 9, 2002
'The Adivasi or Vanvasi or tribal was and is a Hindu. And as a Hindu, he did not require "successful experiment" to rise in unprecedented anger at the unprecedented provocation of 58 Hindus -- men, women and children -- locked into a bogie and set on fire.'

Towards Balkanisation, IV: Catholics   - September 2, 2002
'For centuries, Pakistan and Bangladesh were a part of India; only in the last century, that changed. What's the guarantee that a "Christistan" won't be carved out over the next 50 years...?'

Towards Balkanisation, III: Missionaries   - August 26, 2002
'I support reconversion and the dissemination of Hindu awareness because I want Hindus to remain Hindu, Jains to remain Jain, Buddhists to remain Buddhist, and Sikhs to remain Sikh.'

Towards Balkanisation, Part II   - August 19, 2002
'The hatred that pinkos and "secularists" have for Chhatrapati Shivaji is quite understandable -- considering that Aurangzeb could never defeat the Hindupad Patshahi established by the Maratha and advance south of Golconda.'

Towards Balkanisation, Part I   - August 12, 2002
'Hindutva at least has an imagination of India; Communism wishes its annihilation.'

Bad Company   - August 5, 2002
'Too many people, even among the affluent and educated families, have terrifying experiences. But few wear it on their sleeves, and fewer still sink to the depths Sanjay Dutt did. His father's psychobabble nauseates me.'

Married to the mob   - July 29, 2002
'It's funny how the 1990s' Bombay blasts case and this century's Bharat Shah case have become intertwined because of the common denominator: hoodlums.'

What's Hinduism got to do with it?!   - July 15, 2002
'If some Muslims do not afford other Muslims the self-respect they seek, what's it got to do with us Hindus and our castes?!'

The UCC and Muslims  - July 8, 2002
'You can throw into jail the entire Sangh Parivar for Gujarat. But what next? Can you arrest every Hindu who resents the inequality in laws and vents his ire in his own devious ways...?'

Paedophilia and the Muslim Board  - July 1, 2002
'The VHP recently declared that the courts cannot intervene in matters of faith. But that is exactly what the ulema have been saying for a century -- and are saying today, too! Shall we then accept the Muslim Board's tenet as a principle that governs our existence while rejecting the VHP's...? Why...?'

Carefully constructed facades   - June 24, 2002
'Visiting the dargah does not make Dr Kalam any more Muslim than your favourite psycho, who, too, has done her share of chaadar and dhaaga at Ajmer Shareef. But, the "secular" climate of this country is such that the character of a public figure is held to be questionable till his religious binding remains ambiguous...'

Red in the face   - June 17, 2002
'Our pinkos are like weather forecasters: they just can't get it right. Day after day, they make their announcements -- and demand that we heed them. And day after day, said announcements fall flat on their face.'

The jilebi-wala who cried "wolf"   - June 11, 2002
'The jilebi-walas of South Block have cried "wolf" twice. The next time, forget about the international community, even you and I are going to laugh - especially at the polling booths.'

That dreaded TINA factor   - June 3, 2002
'Nobody really wants a war. Everyone's hoping that our maay-baaps will clamp down hard on Pakistan. But if that doesn't happen - and it won't - all that remains is the TINA factor - there is no alternative.'

Ayodhya: a symbol of exploitation   - March 18, 2002
'The BJP and the VHP overplayed their hand: The revival of the Ayodhya issue was a huge mistake and will finish the BJP.'

Déjà vu, all over again   - March 11, 2002
'While arson and massacres ensued, our editors were busy pontificating on the politics behind police conduct and army deployment -- drilling in "Hindu mobs" and "Muslim victims." These dorks care about the people?!'

Without tinder, sparks are useless   - March 4, 2002
'Most of the murdered couldn't possibly have been part of the mob that burnt the Hindus. Most of them must have been innocents with no connection to any kind of violence. But that's the ugly nature of a riot -- no sanity, all fury.'

Where is the outrage?   - February 25, 2002
'Why's there so much sympathy for Daniel Pearl and none at all for Yusuf Ganai and Ram Naik? Where is the outrage about our own countrymen being slaughtered every day by Pakistani terrorists? I don't get it!'

Puppets on a star-spangled string   - February 18, 2002
'So, how have we done since Op Enduring Freedom...? I say, we done pretty good! For, we have all the potential and all the propensity in the world to do much, much worse.'

Theatre of the Absurd   - February 11, 2002
'I'm totally against the decision to ban the sale of Osama bin Laden's posters. Every Indian who's been pulling his hair over the Islamic jihadi factor and the ISI must perform a daily aarti to the man who brought it all out into the open and gave credibility to the quarters which deserved it but were denied.'

Nothing fails like success   - February 4, 2002
'The plight of the Paki is best illustrated by the phrase "up shit creek without a paddle": A minimum five years of watching the neo-Ataturk make drastic U-turns only to please various infidels, heeheehee.'

Who wants a war?   - January 28, 2002
'It is more than evident what those who suffer the non-stop shelling from across the International Border and the LoC want the Indian government to do. In fact, it is only the urban elite, the "educated" "Indians," who speak the coward's words.'

Behaviour patterns   - January 21, 2002
'The deceitful duo - the PM and his favourite minister - follow a pattern of trying to dupe the public with covert deals. Denials and counter-denials are merely part of a process, the whole aim is to appease the West as well as the anti-nationalist elements in India.'

War, what's it for?   - January 14, 2002
'Those who seek to bleed India must be made to bleed. Their violence must be crushed with greater force. The unqualified message that *every* Indian must deliver to the world is, India will not allow terror and intimidation to succeed, whatever the cost.'

That tired formula again...   - January 7, 2002
'Why is offering the other cheek held as a virtue? Why is compromise preferable to confrontation?'

Too little, too late   - Decemmber 24, 2001
'Sooner or later, and for the first time since its inception as a republic, India MUST declare war on the terrorist State of Pakistan. There is no option!'

It's not the economy, stupid!   - Decemmber 17, 2001
'The loss to the country -- that of the heroic policemen -- was felt by one and all. And there was immense relief that the Parliament building wasn't harmed. However, the good fortune of its inmates drew no such thoughts,' says Varsha Bhosle.

Happiness is...   - Decemmber 10, 2001
'Not only does the Indian government NOT protect its civilians from being mowed down by Paki bullets - which is a *daily* occurrence - but it also demands that other countries join the ranks of the Lashkar-e-Hijada.'

Bechare, battered and besieged   - Decemmber 3, 2001
'Will Al Qaeda be placated if the US forced Israel to withdraw all Jewish settlers from Palestinian territories? The problem with that scenario is, delusions don't disappear with appeasement, for they're crucial to the militant's cause: Fanatics *need* to feel victimised.'

Birds of a feather fight each other   - November 26, 2001
'No matter what the price principles extract, they must not be diluted. For if the followers of Imam Bukhari or John Dayal or Giriraj Kishore develop an allergy to Darwin's theory of evolution, are we going to delete all references to it?' asks Varsha Bhosle.

Where are the green M&Ms??   - November 19, 2001
'What's confounding me is, where are the Moderate Muslims?? I'm told ad nauseum that M&Ms form the majority of Muslim society while jihadis are just a tiny minority. Then is it possible that only the fundamentalists access rediff.com?'

No path to reformation   - November 12, 2001
'When the government that holds the holy places of Mecca and Medina itself goes about stoning women to death and beheading men in public places, what are the chances of establishing a peaceable Islam elsewhere, anywhere...?'

One word: Khilafat   - November 5, 2001
'Khilafat urges all Muslims to unite into a single nation devoid of geographical boundaries and regional loyalties. Meaning, an Indian Muslim must identify more with an Afghan Muslim than with his own Hindu neighbour. The Muslim ethos must always supersede the Indian one.'

Lajja   - April 23, 2001
'Yes, we never have taken lessons from our past, and so, even a two-bit banana republic, with inhabitants who are at the bottom rung of human evolution, attacks us with impunity and without fear of retribution.'

Dear Readers, VI   - April 19, 2001
'I genuinely believe that Hajpayee has totaled the J&K issue and the morale of the Indian Army. I truly think that L K Advani only talks and talks. And I know that corruption has entered the BJP's bloodstream.'

Jholiwalas, chaddiwalas, raddiwalas and babus   - April 2, 2001
'Why pick on the surreptitious machinations of just the film awards? Tell me more about the country where an MGR and a Rajiv Gandhi get Bharat Ratnas before does a Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Ha!'

We, the suckers   - March 26, 2001
'Every single ordinary Indian resident I know instinctively believes that what s/he saw on television is the truth. No amount of poetry on "morphing" and "video technology" will convince us to the contrary. No matter how black Tarun Tejpal & Co, nothing can restore the BJP's past shine.'

BJP: a bargain-basement Congress   - March 19, 2001
'Ultimately, it is not the Tehelka scandal, nor the tattered Opposition, that will devastate the party - it will be the people who once believed in it. It will be the people who saw Corruption live.'

Kya mach gaya? Tehelka!   - March 14, 2001
'The most damning thing in my eyes was not the taped evidence at all. It was the Cabinet's -- and not just the PM, mind you -- refusal to accept Defence Minister George Fernandes's resignation that got my goat. It tells me loud and clear that this government is as interested in being accountable as Laloo Prasad Yadav is.'

Angrez gaye, aulaad chhad ke   - February 22, 2001
'The peace process in J&K is nothing more than the British CI strategy centring around the 1985 Hillsborough Treaty and the Brooks Talks, which was based on a balancing act, an attempt to balance all anti-revolutionary forces in Northern Ireland and used to isolate and crush the republican (pro-Ireland) opposition. But where did that lead to? And given the entity called Pakistan, what will happen to the borders of India if the dorks in Delhi still adhere to failed strategies...?'

Different demographics, identical doctrines   - January 2, 2001
'Since when is liquor, dance and music an anti-Hindu concept? Is there a shred of a commandment in any Hindu scripture that proscribes music and dance? Or even polygamy and polyandry? The Sangh Parivar is simply the Taleban in a Hindu garb.'

The year ends... with more sickness   - December 27, 2000
'The stark reality is, these Saffron Stalinists are not the least interested in the welfare of Hindustan or Hindus. Their sole interest is in establishing control over that which they can/will never control: our lives and destiny.'

What can you expect from a religion that worships cows?   - December 18, 2000
'I've found that most Hindus, believing gratitude to be a universal phenomenon, tend to look upon Bangladesh benevolently. Don't know about that quality, but stupidity is certainly usurped by us.'

Ayodhya and 'Khalistan': the link betwixt   - December 11, 2000
'The Ayodhya issue is not a dispute over real estate, or even the idol/ideal of Ram. It must be absorbed by Hindus -- the few non-eunuchs that survive amongst us, that is -- as the battle for the restoration of Hindu self-esteem.'

Ceasefire: a suspension of judgment   - December 4, 2000
'Chacha Hajpayee will do with Pakistan what his idol Nehru did with China. And with no opposition to speak of, thanks to Signora Mussolini and her houseboys, we are soon going to kiss Kashmir goodbye,'

Backstage at Eternal Asha   - November 27, 2000
'I screamed with total delight! It was simply fabulous to see this woman of 68+ carry off something so young so gracefully. It felt heavenly to fall in love with my mother after all those years.'

Shittin' Gritty   - November 20, 2000
'These are dipweeds supreme, yuck! But the rest of you -- the silent majority of Hindus who do get raving-mad at the slights to our Gods -- I say this: Do not repose your faith in these so-called community leaders.'

Hidden Patterns   - November 13, 2000
'In the planning of an operation of the scale of Chattisinghpora, how could the Sikhs have been kept unaware or silent...? Can you imagine how many Surinder Singhs would have emerged by now? Why would the army destroy its already low credibility with such a stupid act?'

The blasted Bombay blasts   - October 30, 2000
'Hindus are ashamed of being Hindu, and newspapers -- all run by pinkos-in-ideology-capitalists-in-wants -- know that. Therefore, the Sricrescent report and the scrapping of TADA and the farcical coverage of the Bombay blasts...'

The Sipah-e-Sahaba factor   - October 23, 2000
'The terrorist groups creating havoc in Kashmir are led by incestuously tangled Sunnis; Musharraf has a dangerous anti-Shia history; Masood is the current darling of the military and the ISI; and, the conquest of Kashmir is not the sole aim of the Paki dogs -- it's India they want to lay waste.'

The Putty Man   - October 19, 2000
'I am SICK of the BJP's posturing. We've never had a worse government! As bad, yes; but worse, never. The BJP is reaping the fruits of an economy put in motion by Narasimha Rao, who's now about to be jailed. And these originally-Swadeshi- advancing and ever-nationalism-touting jokers are opening up the IT sector and selling off Air-India and increasing the Haj subsidy.'

The House of Straw   - October 16, 2000
'The machinations of the Left is a universal phenomenon. The ultimate goal is not the diversity they keep ranting on about, but division between peoples. For without that, there are no vote banks.'

• The silence of the lambs   - October 9, 2000
'There will be no protest over Chenchu Hansda's plight. Nobody will mull over whether the boy had a school to attend or a family to fail him. There will be no word on the inhuman and degrading conditions of prisons, no regard for the key principle of the primacy of the well-being of a child. For Chenchu -- if he actually did light the match that burnt the three Christians -- was with a Hindu mob.'

• Fiza: a cop-out   - October 3, 2000
'Why is it that in all our films, the murderer is romanticised and the policeman debased? Why don't these sods shed the same tears of sympathy for the police? Why is there such a hysterical distaste in the media for the police?'

• Heart of dorkness   - September 25, 2000
'Can you imagine any Indian newspaper publishing a piece in support of the Unabomber or the accused in the Oklahoma bombing...? Would any Indian media permit itself to be a mouthpiece for the justification of terrorism?'

• The perpetually hurt strike again   - September 21, 2000
'Do you think I'm in this for the money...? Do you think that if I'm removed by rediff.com, I will never have a voice...? Do I seem like the past and present governments of India, all of which have trembled before the might of the minority vote...?'

• Differences in perception   - September 18, 2000
'While Pakistan cries itself hoarse over the maltreatment of Kashmiri Muslims, India hasn't even once raised the all-too-real issue of human rights abuses by Pakistani Muslims against the Hindu minority. But then, which Bandar would step forward for such a cause...?'

• The direct lines to God   - September 11, 2000
'Sarva-dharma-samabhava is a joke taken seriously only by dweebs, aka Hindus. And that joke is compounded by further jokes from Hajpayee.'

• Riding a dead horse   - September 4, 2000
'Fact is, you can find a living horse only after you get off the dead horse. Hajpayee's BJP is a dead horse. The choice is yours: Dismount, or despair.'

• The Jaziya that Hindus yet pay   - August 28, 2000
'The survival of India, our democracy, our unique civilisation -- that these things are in question today is hardly because of terrorists massed at our borders. We must worry about their survival most of all because of the mess that we have allowed to grow and fester inside. Like every other secularist and pinko, Atal Bihari Hajpayee has sold out.'

• Praan Jaye Par Nobel Na Jaye   - August 21, 2000
'Many readers asked me: if not Vajpayee, then who? Who?! I fail to understand this dilemma! I believe that NO one is indispensable. What do you mean by "There Is No Alternative"! There ALWAYS is. At this point in time, even Mulayam Singh is better than this halwai! Remember: Tu nahi, aur sahi, aur sahi, aur sahi...'

• Dependence Day, 2000   - August 14, 2000
'I am not prepared to deal with whatever form of government exists in Delhi. For I did not ask for a weak, groveling, pathetic slug of a PM. I have conditions which must be met: I want him out, out, OUT. And so should every self-respecting Indian.'

• The Nobel quest   - August 7, 2000
'The Track II diplomacy and the fact that separatists who sneer, "We are a fighting force and it is not our task to engage in negotiations" are being entertained, signifies that the Mahatma is getting ready to dump the Special Resolution on Kashmir of 1994, which affirms that the territorial integrity of Kashmir is non-negotiable. For only the scrapping of the resolution would lend the "flexibility" desired by Pakistan and its jehadis.'

• The Hindu Eunuch   - July 31, 2000
'This is not some philosophical debate about which religion is supreme in its "truth"! There is a *temporal* war taking place, one between a resourceful, united force seeking to gain new territories, and an ancient, scattered force trying to hold on to its own.'

• It ain't over yet   - July 26, 2000
'Each and every person, depending on his sense of justice, desperately wants Balasaheb to be either in or out of jail. I'm just wondering, where are our great and good NGOs...? How come we've been spared their world-according-to-Stalin diatribes? Something's fishy... I expect heavy battle array within the next fortnight.'

• Dear Readers, V   - July 24, 2000
'Asia is for the picking. What motivates missionaries here is the ease with which a poor, uneducated tribal can be bought with a few pieces of silver and a promise of "salvation." Too, "extreme sacrifice" is a facet of devoted fundamentalists -- it's high time that Christian missionaries are recognised as such.'

• Fundie Alert   - July 20,2000
'The VHP is a foil, a check, a balance to all those for whom it is profitable to make Hindus an impotent political group. It would be extremely asinine, arrogant and self-defeating of me to deny the VHP its plaudits just because I do not accept their madcap schemes.'

• Back to square one   - July 17, 2000
'As for Balasaheb, apart from those who are widely known as "lumpen", he's got three people rooting for him: Francois Gautier, Dara Singh and, of course, Varsha Bhosle.'

• Heaven's Gate   - July 10, 2000
'Hinduism is NOT just one of the innumerable religions that flourished in India since ancient times -- it is the ethos of this land and entitled to special protection. Why are we afraid to take head-on an organisation that has murdered thousands for holding "wrong" beliefs, burnt people to "save" their souls, and still regards science as an enemy...? God alone knows.'

• Pandora's Box   - July 4, 2000
'I have *nothing* against a Constitutional restructuring because, one, there's nothing sacred or infallible about anything that's drafted by man, and two, anything that pinkos oppose has to have a lot of good in it. But will the BJP's gamble pay off?'

• Batting for the Hurriyat   - June 29, 2000
'The more I think, the more I'm convinced: It is high time that India becomes truly secular'

• Ponytail in a twist   - June 23, 2000
'People have used and will use the discrimination plea as a defence because India has *never* espoused secularism. To be politically and socially secular, an individual and a government need to disregard everything concerned with religion or religious belief -- including reservations on caste/religion lines and parallel-running civil and criminal codes'

• Out of the loop   - June 17, 2000
'The thought of getting back to politics repulses me. I switch on DD News and promptly switch to MTV; I pick up the paper and don't open it; I've no clue about Sri Lanka or Sonia Gandhi or Rabadi Devi or whatever. Even today, I finally forced myself to write after the call about the demise of Rajesh Pilot... I liked him.'

• The hell where youth and laughter go...   - June 7, 2000
'Even though they were students here, they weren't greenhorns -- all of them had faced enemy fire... But after this class, we worried over how the constraints of political correctness would let them operate freely in situations of unconventional warfare. For rules of battle do not apply to terrorists -- and shouldn't apply to their pursuers, either...'

• The Lanjot village massacre   - March 3, 2000
'The militants and ISI personnel are being trained to infiltrate through a barrage of artillery and other heavy fire, which the Pakistani military resort to at will to occupy some unheld piece of ground while being supported by the army's artillery fire. In short, expect more intensified attacks on Indians by the Masood Group...'

• A time to kill   - February 28, 2000
'We realise that we land up telling you less about the NE and the CIJWS and more about the people who fascinated us. Point is, none of it would have existed if not for the human factor -- the individual who holds up and holds forth for us.'

• Back to school...   - February 21, 2000
'The trouble brewing incessantly in the NE is somehow not of much interest to us. We quickly turn the page after scanning headers spelling death datelined Dimapur. It's all so geographically far away from Chandigarh, Cochin or Chennai. Question is, why's it emotionally distant, too...?'

• Elementary rules of democracy   - February 7, 2000
'Despite Joerg Haider's remarks and all the propaganda against the Sangh Parivar -- the right-wing, both -- the people of the respective countries have put their faith in the conservative coalition governments. They CHOOSE to ignore the garbage tags of "Nazi" and "fascist" as applied to those who admire hard-line politics. It is one thing for citizens to rustle up opinion among fellow citizens, and quite another for foreign countries to twist the arm of a government because *their* people may or may not like things as done elsewhere.'

• Principal principles   - January 31, 2000
'Do the developed countries manifest moral conduct when it comes to their security concerns...? Why is America an Übernation? Today, India is weaker because the Vajpayee government suffered an attack of misplaced moral conduct. And I'm especially incensed because the BJP got my vote on the ticket of hard-line nationalism.'

• Human rights violations in Kashmir   - January 25, 2000
'Young girls are kidnapped, inhumanly raped by several militants for days at a stretch, made to work as agents and conduits for various terrorist groups and exploited in every possible manner before being finally discarded: Just a few "lucky" ones survive the ordeal, while the majority of them are put to a brutal and merciless end.'

• The wages they pay...   - January 18, 2000
'Yeah, our soldiers are called barbarous by one and all: Such are the wages only they pay for trying their best to prevent the results of the stepped up activities of militants... Activities encouraged by the release of bastards like Masood Azhar...'

• Over a surreal horizon   - January 11, 2000
'India needs prime ministers who, should they wear bangles, also possess balls of steel -- like Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher or Golda Meir. Ram Mandir doesn't bother us; the UCC can await a debate; Article 370 is a complex Constitutional issue; but there is NO excuse -- not even 150 "innocent" lives -- for bowing to terrorists. Are security personnel's lives not innocent...?'

• How the soldiers rang in Y2K   - January 6, 2000
'The soldiers seemed uncomfortable...that's how they brought in the new millennium while the "nationalists" of the BJP-led government were out counting the liberal votes and winning new friends and influencing people... Army lives come so cheap...'

• More Betrayal   - December 27, 1999
'What the whole experience has taught me is that some Sikhs do hate Hindus with a rage unparalleled. And that's the fountainhead of Khalistan...'

• Betrayal   - December 20, 1999
'The destruction of the Babri by Hindus is "vandalism," but the terrorism of Khalistanis and Kashmiri Muslims is a "resurgence of sub-nationalities." They set the stage -- and the Sikhs danced. What a tragedy...' .

• Prophet-sharing   - December 16, 1999
'For years we have been looking for signs telling us when to convert. Besides, we are against the Hindu way of cremating the dead; we do not want our body to be burnt.' Varsha Bhosle on Kamala Das's conversion to Islam.

• Crime of Passion   - December 13, 1999
'Has Bukhari ever ridden a plane to drum up passions about what is certainly the greatest cause of Muslim misery, "greater even than a dilapidated mosque: poverty"?'

• Passion play   - December 6, 1999
'When one is passionate, one instinctively does not think of the consequences. When one's earnest, one will hammer in the message boldly. Passion breeds courage; and courage can move mountains. The neutral, the disengaged, the impassive, they have their place in the scheme of things -- but that is NOT the only scheme that must exist.'

• Front Lines   - November 29, 1999
'The right to ask questions and to change laws does not rest with those who may be fronts for foreign powers. Why are the NGOs shying to declare their sources...? Transparency should begin at home...'

• Logistics of Pakistan's Proxy War   - November 22, 1999
'That there's a fifth column working against Indian security, I've no doubt. That certain local media is cozy with militants and under suspicion, *is* a fact. That the editors in Delhi are prime dorks, is another dismal reality.'

• Control freak   - November 15, 1999
'What does the present Kaangres Parti have to do with the INC of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel?? If I remember correctly, Gandhiji's Congress agitated against foreigners governing India! It is high time that the rotting relics of that party be laid to rest.'

• The fifth column   - November 8, 1999
'Who do I cry to? What is my sorrow supposed to consist of? Our brave facade hides hurt and traumatised insides -- especially since most of us feel that no one cares and whom are they dying for anyway,' an army wife in Kashmir tells Varsha Bhosle.

• Requiem: Major Purushottam   - November 4, 1999
'He was betrayed by all such "in search of the Truth." To all those who shed a tear for him today, I can only say this: Avenge him. Drive these scumbags out of the limelight.'

• The battle for the millennium   - November 1, 1999
'Actually, none of us is bothered by the "500 million Christians in India by the end of 2000". Not I, nor the VHP... Christendom happens to be extremely patient and remarkably Machiavellian. Jesus can afford to wait... And therefore, it's high time Hindus shake butt.'

• Fundie, and proud of it   - October 26, 1999
'I solve my duvidha in mixed metaphors: I will fight the madcap battle when I get to that bridge. But as of now: Rah, rah, VHP! Varsha Bhosle bares her heart and political beliefs.'

• Pawar-sharing   - October 20, 1999
• Room at the top   - October 15, 1999
• The face that launched a thousand hardships   - October 11, 1999
• Jaanko raakhey Saaiyan...   - October 8, 1999
• Election Khichadi, IV   - October 4, 1999
• To the power of one   - September 27, 1999
• Election Khichadi, III   - September 24, 1999
• Our Man In Delhi   - September 20, 1999
• Pressing matters   - September 14, 1999
• Saffron rally, Mumbai   - September 10, 1999
• Election Khichadi, II   - September 6, 1999
• Election Khichadi   - August 30, 1999
• The stuff we are made of   - August 23, 1999
• Burden of proof   - August 16, 1999
• The Battle of the Debris   - August 13, 1999
• Other myths to "internalise"   - August 9, 1999
• Revenge of The Shroud   - August 6, 1999
• Communications Gaps   - August 2, 1999
• Sharpening the saw   - July 26, 1999
• The Reds are steeped in the blues   - July 20, 1999
• Mooh-tod jawaab   - July 15, 1999
• Foot in mouth disease   - July 12, 1999
• A Kargil six-shooter   - July 5, 1999
• Mooh mein Ram-Ram, bagal mein chhoori   - July 1, 1999
• Stupid is as stupid does   - June 28, 1999
• Trivialising Kargil, my way   - June 21, 1999
• Musharrafgate   - June 14, 1999
• The Great Indian Illusion Trick   - June 10, 1999
• House of dementia   - June 3, 1999
• Courage under fire   - May 27, 1999
• Plan to bomb Vajpayee? For me, too!   - May 24, 1999
• The fault is in ourselves, that we are underlings   - May 20, 1999
• My enemy's enemies...   - May 17, 1999
• Elevenses   - May 13, 1999
• Woe to the status quo   - May 10, 1999
• Divided loyalties   - May 6, 1999
• Arms wrestling   - April 29, 1999
• Immaculate conceptions   - April 26, 1999
• Ms understanding   - April 22, 1999
• Power draws its blood...   - April 19, 1999
• Trivial Questions   - April 15, 1999
• Welcome Chaos   - April 12, 1999
• The Great Wall of Chennai   - April 6, 1999
• Old habits die hard   - April 1, 1999
• Dear Readers IV   - March 25, 1999
• Crushed before they bloom   - March 18, 1999
• Humpty Dumpty was pushed   - March 11, 1999
• Base Instinct   - March 4, 1999
• A mixed bag of tricks   - February 25, 1999
• God is in the details...   - February 18, 1999
• Dear Readers III   - February 11, 1999
• Purchase of absolution   - February 4, 1999
• Mysteries of digital life   - January 28, 1999
• The preying Church   - January 21, 1999
• The Beacon of Human Rights   - January 14, 1999
• A recipe for Talibanisation   - January 7, 1999
• Dear Readers, II   - January 4, 1999
• A chorus of disapproval   - December 29, 1998
• Tempural Affairs   - December 17, 1998
• How to lose friends and antagonise people   - December 10, 1998
• Soniamev Jayate   - December 3, 1998
• Present Imperfect   - December 26, 1998
• Pulp friction   - November 19, 1998
• Cut to the chase   - November 12, 1998
• A few good men   - November 5, 1998
• Class action   - October 29, 1998
• One of us...   - October 22, 1998
• Dear Readers...   - October 12, 1998
• Leftier ideals   - October 5, 1998
• Postmortem   - September 29, 1998
• How to go down in history...   - September 21, 1998
• The Great Indian Soap Opera   - July 02, 1998
• The Pota of Tada   - June 25, 1998
• Stare-way to heaven   - June 18, 1998
• Hum doobenge, BJP ko saath lekar   - June 11, 1998
• Reality bites   - June 8, 1998
• Cop Land   - May 28, 1998
• Self-interest is the name of the game   - May 21, 1998
• The Hindutva Bomb   - May 14, 1998
• Selective leaks   - April 30, 1998
• Is nationalism the burden of Hindus alone?   - April 23, 1998
• Good God! Thou ate beef?   - April 16, 1998
• Monopoly Game   - April 9, 1998
• Hindutva rules, Communism drools   - April 2, 1998
• Hang 'em High!   - March 26, 1998
• Altered States   - March 23, 1998
• Thirteen at the table   - March 19, 1998
• Men behaving badly   - March 12, 1998
• Democracy by calculator   - March 5, 1998
• Oh, for an ink remover...   - February 28, 1998
• The Man Who Knew Too Much   - February 26, 1998
• Conspiracy Theory   - February 23, 1998
• House of the Rising Son   - February 19, 1998
• Killer Instinct   - February 16, 1998
• The Establishment Strikes Back!   - February 13, 1998
• In rod we trust   - January 29, 1998
• For whom the cell tolls   - January 22, 1998
• Alien Resurrection   - January 15, 1998
• Baby doom   - January 8, 1998
• The Hot Air Awards, 1997   - January 2, 1998
• Papa, don't preach...   - December 24, 1997
• Son-burned   - December 18, 1997
• Beware the Ides of March...   - December 11, 1997
• Three men and a bastard brat   - December 4, 1997
• Death becomes them   - November 6, 1997
• The Ghost Of Diwali Past   - October 31, 1997
• Curtain Call   - October 24, 1997
• True Lies   - October 17, 1997
• Sink Or Swim   - October 10, 1997
• Achtung, baby   - October 3, 1997
• Jingoists of the world, Unite!   - September 26, 1997
• Seven Lessons From Ayodhya   - September 19, 1997
• Swimming With The Sharks   - September 12, 1997
• Reply To An Islamist   - September 5, 1997
• Another one bites the dust   - August 29, 1997
• Why I Am Not A Pinko   - June 27, 1997
• WANTED: A Hindu bigamist   - June 20, 1997
• A requiem for Security   - June 13, 1997
• India for sale   - June 6, 1997
• Hawks, doves, pinkos and... toilets   - May 30, 1997
• First Blood   - May 23, 1997
• In the name of the Lord   - May 16, 1997
• Cat among the pigeons   - May 9, 1997
• Let's make mayhem   - May 2, 1997
• Mera Congress Mahaan   - April 25, 1997
• Faux Indian   - April 22, 1997
• The night of the long knives   - April 16, 1997
• Rules of the jungle still apply...   - April 11, 1997
• Mutinous March, Trifecta, Kesri's Gate, and Apoplectic April   - April 4, 1997
• History is just a matter of rounding up the usual suspects   - March 28, 1997
• Dilip dear,   - March 21, 1997
• CTBT or not, our goose could still be nuked...   - March 15, 1997
• And justice for some   - March 8, 1997
• Theories are just ideals blowing in the wind; but a patch of earth,
even if frozen and of no strategic value, can set ablaze the mind   - February 28, 1997
• H****ism, that eight-letter word   - February 21, 1997
• Going to town  - February 15, 1997

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