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Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
A different nationalism: Let's go back to our Constitution
Written by Rahul Govind I will have to respectfully differ with the arguments of Yogendra Yadav and Akeel Bilgrami on nationalism. Bilgrami speaks of the 'unselfconscious pluralism' characterising 'centuries of Indian society', as reflected in Gandhian nationalism ('An alternative nationalism', IE, June 16), while Yadav maintains that once the modern Indian state is taken as a successor to Indian civilisation, the task is to define its 'cultural traits' ('The rediscovery of India', IE, June 5). Nirmal Verma is offered as a starting point for imagining a 'positive nationalism' that could save Indian civilisation from its 'inner disintegration' under colonialism (and the post-colonial state). This despite Yadav acknowledging that Verma 'hints at Hindus [being] the custodians of national unity and integrity', that he 'equivocated' on the role of Islam in Indian civilisation and exhibited a 'pronounced unease, if not denial, of the question of caste inequality' ('A critic of the modern Indian mind', IE, June, 17). Is this the beginning of a rethinking, or is this, instead, a pale reflection of the majoritarianism of the times? Indian nationalism drew on India's past, but drew equally from a global heritage involving ideas such as popular sovereignty and fundamental rights. Even after the Gandhian intervention and mass nationalism in the early 1920s, several factors led to the nationalist agenda, including critical reform on land and caste. This broadening of the terrain of struggle over social and economic rights was not sui generis to the initial Gandhian intervention. It was due to popular movements, and figures like B R Ambedkar, as well as Communists and Socialists. The crowning achievement was the Indian Constitution, which enshrined ideals regarding fundamental rights and universal franchise as well as social protections and land reform. Seeped in our consciousness of Indian nationalism is Gandhi's humiliation at the hands of racists on that infamous train from Durban to Pretoria. Much less known is Ambedkar's experience in Chalisgaon in 1929, in the midst of the national movement. As a part of a committee, appointed by the Bombay government to investigate caste oppression, he alighted at the railway station of Chalisgaon. When he was about to start his journey towards Maharwada, 'the quarters of the untouchables', he couldn't find a single tonga. After an hour or so, when he got one and paced towards his destination, the cart crashed, the horse bolted, and he was, in his own words, 'thrown down on the stone pavement', which resulted in a fractured leg and serious injuries. The accident occurred because the driver had never driven a tonga before. He was forced to do so because no tonga driver would agree to seat a Dalit in his carriage. In the same text, Waiting for a Visa, Ambedkar writes of a doctor refusing to attend to a Dalit's wife, resulting in her death. Just two years before the Chalisgaon incident, Ambedkar had the Manusmriti publicly burned in response to upper-caste attacks on Dalits who had drawn water from a public water tank. This kind of response against Dalits organising to access public spaces, schools, roads, and temples was not unusual. At the Mahad Satyagraha, Ambedkar invoked the ideals of the French Revolution, as he was to do in his Annihilation of Caste. Caste oppression was more fully addressed by the national movement because of popular campaigns around rights to representation, land and identity by figures like Ambedkar, who combated inherited legacies of discrimination using a global vocabulary of democratic rights. The inclusivity of the national movement, therefore, was not a civilisational inheritance. In the 1930s, Gandhi too invoked the 'secular' in the context of untouchability and temple entry, just as he came to accept the demand for a Constituent Assembly, a wholly 'modern' idea. There is a view that caste oppression was not native to our civilisation, but was imposed by the colonial state. Even if we credit the British with unmatched capacities in collective hypnosis, this argument cannot be taken seriously. Certainly, the British had no intention of establishing equality. But it is patently false to attribute caste violence and its hierarchical social arrangements solely to the colonial state, denying any role to Indians or Indian history. That caste hierarchy was a social and political reality before colonial rule is well established. Notwithstanding the riches of India's heritage, it would be historically inaccurate to think that one could find there a grammar for universal franchise, popular sovereignty, and justiciable fundamental rights, those distinctive features of our Constitution. This grammar emerged from a global conjuncture, and cannot be traced to any one historical or civilisational heritage, whether 'Western' or 'Indian'. The idea of a nation-state may be taken to be a political form where the nation, or the people, exercise sovereignty, expressed by institutional protocols such as elections, and regulated by norms such as equality, fundamental rights, including gender rights. The emergence of these ideas, including equality and liberty, cannot be understood without reference to revolutions such as the ones in France and Haiti. But these ideals were not intrinsic to some a priori nation called 'France', and it was not long before Napoleon reestablished the empire and slavery. Such ideals were not institutionalised in any 'Western' country, 'internally' or 'externally'. One can speak here of violent empires, not nation-states, arguably until the post-Second World War order. The contention that the ills of the day are caused by a small 'westernised' elite, and that one has to reach back to a corralled history, civilisational past or the nationalist movement to address contemporary challenges, is to misunderstand the past as much as the present. Nationalism ought to be judged good or ill depending on the extent to which it embodies popular will and universal values such as equality. Struggles over representation, caste, gender, federalism and welfare in the post-colonial state have parallels with the national movement as well as with those the world over, simply because a particular language of rights and constitution-making emerged in modernity. It is to the Constitution and a modern global heritage of rights and values that these movements turn. The benchmark of nationalism can only be the Constitution, a revolutionary and transformative document, not the echo of an ever-existing civilisational heritage. The writer teaches History at Delhi University
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Children thrive in their mother tongue — but only if no one is left out
It is universally acknowledged that young children learn best through their mother tongue. There can be no two opinions on the research findings cited in the NEP, 2020, which states that 'children pick up languages extremely quickly between the ages of two and eight', and promises that 'all languages will be taught in an enjoyable and interactive style, with plenty of interactive conversation'. Given my long association with the education sector, I am, however, uncomfortable with some of the ideas being put forward. The NEP lists 'promoting multilingualism and the power of language in teaching and learning' as a fundamental principle. The CBSE is emphasising this in the schools affiliated with it. But why limit it to schools affiliated with one board? This may also be the right time to think of children whose mother tongue finds no place in schools, with no books or teachers. There are also children whose mother tongue has no script yet. One cannot ignore such realities or neglect the situation in a majority of government or municipal schools while advocating for multilingualism. Children studying there need to acquire linguistic skills. They are keen to learn multiple languages and certainly have the aptitude. But they need teachers — regular, properly trained ones — at the right teacher-student ratio, who understand their socio-cultural environment and aren't constantly anxious about whether they'll be retained the next year. If circulars alone had the power to change things, millions of children — mostly first-generation learners — would not have suffered humiliation, failure, and exclusion in the early years after Independence when they were brought to government schools by earnest teachers. The imposition of compulsory English learning, without aligning it to children's spoken languages, contributed to higher dropout rates and poor performance. A transplanted education system — created by colonisers for a select few — was extended to achieve universal access, as envisioned in Article 45 of the Constitution, which directed the state to provide free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14. The system cracked under its own weight. With the fading out of the earlier generation of Gandhian teachers and idealist politicians, we became unable even to recruit teachers on time. Today, for most Indians, the 'power of language' is synonymous with learning English. Private, high-fee-charging schools are seen as the only hope of securing a 'bright' future. Multilingualism will certainly help nurture talent and skills, but only in schools that have teachers who believe in lifelong learning and a management system that ensures the regular presence of trained teachers with the necessary language skills. At times, our rhetoric becomes too grand and we end up ignoring core issues. Nearly 9 lakh regular teaching posts in government schools are vacant. This problem has persisted, with fluctuating numbers, for decades. What does 'multilingualism' mean for children studying in such under-resourced schools? The late CJI, Justice J S Verma, highlighted this in 2012. He unequivocally stated that over 10,000 BEd colleges were essentially selling degrees. So, what should our real priority be — promoting multilingualism or recruiting teachers who have earned their degrees? Or perhaps, just ensuring schools are functional? In striving to match international benchmarks and meet the aspirations of a select group, let us not forget our constitutional obligation to provide equitable education to all. I must emphasise that instead of focusing disproportionately on a privileged section (like CBSE-affiliated schools), the more underserved should not be ignored. Let children learn in the language they are most comfortable with. Let them decide the rest as they grow. Unburden them — instead of overwhelming them with yet another circular. The writer works in education, social cohesion and religious amity. He is presently an Atal fellow with PMML, New Delhi
India.com
4 days ago
- Politics
- India.com
Meet Sanjay Dutt's ‘second father', who stood by him when no one else did, even helped to get him out of jail; He is…
Sanjay Dutt has never just been a movie star. For over four decades, he's been a symbol of talent, rebellion, survival, and second chances. His onscreen intensity made him a legend; his off-screen turbulence turned him into folklore. From blockbuster fame to courtroom headlines, Sanju Baba's life has played out like a film reel — dramatic, unforgiving, and deeply human. But behind the headlines and public trials lies a lesser-known chapter — one that speaks of unwavering loyalty and silent support. In the darkest phase of his life — when his name surfaced during the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts — Sanjay Dutt found himself alienated, even by those closest to him. His father, Sunil Dutt, then a Congress MP, found no backing from his own party. The noise was deafening, and help was scarce. And that's when the door opened — not from within Bollywood, not from Parliament — but from the residence of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray. Sanju didn't just admire Balasaheb — he called him Saheb and saw him as a second father. It wasn't politics; it was personal. In a rare moment of vulnerability, the actor once said, 'Whatever he has done for me and my family, I can never forget. I love Saheb like a father.' Back in 1993, when Sanjay Dutt was arrested for possessing illegal weapons and linked to the Mumbai blasts, Balasaheb Thackeray came to his defence through an editorial in Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamana . He insisted Dutt was innocent and being framed by the police, arguing the actor had procured the arms only for self-defence during the riots that shook the city before the blasts. Sunil Dutt, known for his Gandhian values, walked into the home of the fierce Sena supremo with just one request — help my son. And Balasaheb did. How? That remains behind closed doors, whispered in political corridors, but never confirmed. What's known is this: when the world turned away, Balasaheb stood by the Dutts. Their bond wasn't transactional — it was rooted in years of mutual respect. For Sunil, Balasaheb was a man of his word. For Sanju, he was a lifeline when few others showed up. Even today, when Sanjay Dutt looks back at those years, it's not just legal battles or media trials he remembers — it's the kindness of a man he called Saheb. Sometimes, the greatest rescue stories are the ones never fully told.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Luxury stores and their immersive, craft-centric in-house experiences
When was the last time you walked into a brick-and-mortar store? Or needed to, with the Blinkits, Instamarts, and Amazons delivering everything to your doorstep? But despite the digital convenience, luxury retail is enticing people to step into physical spaces by evolving beyond transactions into sensory, immersive experiences — part atelier, part theatre, part shrine to tradition. 'It's all about immersion. Today's consumer wants spaces that reveal the 'why' behind what they're taking home,' says Astha Khetan, co-founder of The House of Things. Once an esteemed online platform, the brand, as of March 2025, boasts a 25,000 concept store in Udaipur. Here, immersive vignettes and a thoughtfully curated spatial programme invite visitors to slow down and savour the store — from celebrating the richness of pichwai paintings to hands-on engagement with a tactile material library that includes everything from bone inlay to textural wallpapers. Retail as a moodboard The mission of highlighting quality craftsmanship and elevated design through experiential retail first bloomed in high-end, exclusive pockets: New Delhi's Dhan Mill, once a warehouse hub dating back to 1978 and now a symbol of luxury boasting over 65 curated boutiques; Jaipur's trendy C Scheme and Civil Lines; and South Mumbai's Kala Ghoda, which saw entrants such as Tarun Tahliani's Ensemble as early as the 1990s. What once remained confined to these rarefied spaces is fast becoming a mainstream retail strategy, with brands across price points and across the country embracing strategic brand storytelling. Every larger-than-life flagship helmed by designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee in cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Hyderabad is a maximalist performance — much like his clothes and jewellery. The store's museum-like wallpapered and tapestry-lined walls are filled to the brim with pichwais, Tanjore paintings, vintage photography and lithographs, Mughal miniatures, and rare antiques. Not all of them are for sale. 'It's these enriching details that make me linger in the store, it makes me want to discover more,' says Reshma Bombaywala-Lezinska, a Mumbai-based jewellery designer and content creator. Sanjay Garg's Raw Mango stores channel the brand's ethos of constant evolution into pared-down design, redefining Indian minimalism. The spaces are generally left bare, raw, with no mannequins in sight, enabling key design elements to shine — such as Garg's take on the Gandhian sofa, the Indian baithak, which has found its way into every outlet, or in Chennai, the building's Art Deco heritage. The dialogue around Mumbai's Nilaya Anthology by Asian Paints, one of India's newest immersive design landmarks, has captured worldwide attention. The concept does away with barriers, both physically and metaphysically: spaces flow into one another, with a double-height orangery bringing the outdoors indoors; and the lines between gallery, museum, store and experience blur to carve out a sensorial sanctuary. 'I grew up between Chennai and Bangalore, and I remember going to places like Sundari Silks, smelling the mallipoo, drinking coffee, and buying kanjeevaram saris,' says Pavitra Rajaram, design director of Asian Paints. 'I feel like we've somehow lost the experience part of shopping now. So, I wanted Anthology to be a place of storytelling and experiences, where you come not to consume but to feel part of something, which then may drive your natural inclination to take home some part of that which resonates with you. But that's not the primary intention.' Fashion designer Ritu Beri's Escape in Goa — with a 35-foot Portuguese-style façade in vibrant red and white, a bar, restaurant, and performance area, interspersed with Goan architectural elements such as cut laterite pathways and limestone mosaic floor tiles — is not just a store but a sanctuary of soul and story. She recalls a tiny Parisian boutique she once visited, with Edith Piaf humming in the background. Every lovingly curated item came with a handwritten tag narrating its story. 'That blend of warmth, curation, and personal touch stayed with me,' she reminisces, and is something she brings to Escape. Craft meets commerce The global rise of experiential retail heralds technological integration — from augmented reality (Farfetch's London store linked online data to enhance the offline experience, letting users access their purchase history and favourites in real time), to the power of social media (as early as 2011, IKEA invited 100 Facebook competition winners for a personalised overnight stay at its warehouse), and most recently, AI integration, enabling personalised service, hands-free shopping via voice recognition, intelligent product search, and lead generation. But, in India, it carries unique weight: retail is a site for both consumption and example, renowned jewellery designer Sunita Shekhawat's Museum of Meenakari Heritage (MoMH) in Jaipur orchestrates a fascinating dive into the history of enamelling from Renaissance Europe to its arrival in India. 'At the Shekhawat Haveli, our retail space, we believe that even if someone leaves without a product, they should carry with them a deep appreciation for the centuries-old craft of meenakari and the cultural legacy it represents,' says Shekhawat. The by-appointment-only space features four private pods for client interactions, clad in off-white araish lime stucco and with semi-vaulted ceilings embellished with frescoes created by artists specialising in miniature painting. 'We used the traditional technique, reinterpreted at a scale that is not normally used, to generate narratives around the flora and fauna of Rajasthan, grounding it to its context,' reveals Ambrish Arora, founding principal at Studio Lotus. Arora and his team also developed the imposing, hand-carved red sandstone façade of MoMH, which draws from Jaipur's Indo-Saracenic roots while offering an ode to Shekhawat's Jodhpuri roots. 'At the ground level, you enter a space that feels like a museum, [and is] open to the city,' he explains. 'This transforms the space from one where products are sold to one that disseminates knowledge — a cultural destination. Storytelling has become essential in creating a unique and memorable retail identity.' Small but luxe Today's experiential luxury retail landscape has bifurcated into two distinct approaches: the grand spectacle of massive flagship stores and the concentrated elegance of smaller boutiques in premium enclaves like New Delhi's Khan Market and Dhan Mill, where stores like Collectklove and AMPM prove that square footage does not dictate design impact. MuseLAB's design for sanitaryware dealer Aquant's new Mumbai showroom, for instance, is a veritable sorbet-toned wonderland with curved walls that remind you of gelato swirls. Or the futuristic, Brutalist and layered world of Unconventional, the multi-designer store in Kolkata — where a large, black, floor-to-ceiling sphere becomes the focal point of the design, revealing the store slowly as you walk around it. Singular design elements can also be transformative, like the rich zardozi ceiling at fashion brand Divani's New Delhi store, interwoven with semi-precious stones and nine tonnes of shimmering gold thread. Tarun Tahiliani's Bengaluru store, which opened doors in December 2022, draws footfalls to date for a singular wall that reinvents the trompe-l'œil: a tree-of-life wallpaper brought to life through rich couture techniques such as intricate embroidery, painstakingly crafted by karigars from Lucknow and New Delhi — as an ode to his unwavering commitment to craftsmanship. The new Indian retail is as much about how something is sold as what is sold. The store is not the backdrop, it's the protagonist. An architect-turned-journalist, the writer hopes her passion for storytelling drives an incisive cultural commentary.
Express Tribune
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Ali Sethi vouches for NY mayor candidate Zohran Mamdani
Musician Ali Sethi cannot get enough of his friend and up and coming politician Zohran K. Mamdani. On Friday, Sethi posted a carousel on Instagram to show his support for Mamdani, who's a 2025 New York City mayoral election candidate. "An absolutely inspirational campaign by my friend and brother Zohran K Mamdani for a better New York," wrote Sethi, applauding his friend's election campaign. He added a message for those who felt dejected and disappointed with the situation in the city. "If (like me) you had given up hope, and were resigned to all kinds of grim scenarios ("no point resisting"), with Zohran you have a real chance at renewal: renewal of self, community, city, party, country." He encouraged his fellow desi Americans to vote for Mamdani, who is the son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, Indian-Ugandan postcolonial studies professor at Columbia University. "So get thee to a ballot and vote for Zohran," said Sethi, sprinkling his message with a bunch of ballot emojis to drive the point home. In the carousel, he posted four photographs with the two of them in the first one showing a toothy smile. "The first pic of me and Zohran taken by his legendary mum [Nair]," he wrote. He added, "And in the second pic, my mum is definitely giving him a lecture on Gandhian activism." The second photo shows Sethi's mother, politician and journalist Jugnu Mohsin standing with Mamdani. It appears to be a humbling pose where she is giving him blessings; that much is visible from the expressions on Mamdani's face while Sethi himself stands behind his mother. The third photo shows Mamndani and Mohsin in a hug while the fourth is a poster, part of Mamdani's campaign, which states, "Democrat for Mayor Zohran. For a New York you can afford." It states Mamndani's website and the voting date, June 24. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and moved to New York with his family at the age of seven, considers himself a democratic socialist. He previously worked on an unsuccessful campaign for New York City Council candidate Khader El-Yateem, a Palestinian Lutheran minister and democratic socialist. He supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and has actively taken part in its protests. His current campaign for mayorship include support for free city buses, a rent freeze for rent-stabilised housing, and city-owned grocery stores.
