Capturing the Politics and Poetics of Everyday Life....

I belong to a generation that survived teachers who threw chalk pieces with sniper-level accuracy, locked classroom doors exactly one second after the bell, and predicted our future unemployment with terrifying confidence. Today, as a teacher, I carefully frame every sentence like a UN peace negotiation so that no student feels emotionally attacked by words such as “deadline,” “effort,” or “poor preparation.” Somewhere between “Stand outside the class!” and “Thank you so much for attending despite waking up at noon,” higher education has dramatically evolved. A humorous — and slightly worried — reflection on teaching in the age of emotional fragility. The Student-Friendly University and Its Silent Crisis I often find myself wondering whether I have unknowingly time-travelled into an educational world radically different from the one in which I was raised. I have a few doubts about the social expectations surrounding teachers in higher education today. Can a teacher scold a student for ...

Every delayed scholarship, promotion, approval, or administrative decision carries a human story behind it. When institutions become battlegrounds for endless conflict, ordinary people silently become collateral damage. Democracy Needs Debate, Not Endless Paralysis Kerala often takes pride in its literacy, public institutions, democratic culture, and political consciousness. We celebrate ourselves as a society that debates, questions, resists, and participates. And rightly so. Democracies do not grow through silence. Institutions cannot thrive without disagreement. Dissent is not the enemy of democracy; in many ways, it is its lifeblood. But somewhere along the way, many of our institutional spaces seem to have forgotten a crucial distinction: the difference between principled disagreement and endless paralysis. When Institutions Become Battlefields Today, across a few public institutions in Kerala, one increasingly witnesses a disturbing pattern. Meetings are postponed indefinitely. D...

Elections may end with results, but governance begins with difficult questions. This open letter to the new Chief Minister of Kerala reflects on issues that deserve urgent attention beyond political celebrations—higher education, English language learning, legal literacy, women’s empowerment, and the future of public institutions in the state. Democracies grow stronger not when criticism is silenced, but when uncomfortable conversations are taken seriously. Dear Sir, First of all, let me extend my sincere wishes to you as you assume the responsibility of leading the state at a politically significant moment in Kerala’s history. Democratic transitions, especially in coalition-based systems, are always accompanied by uncertainties, negotiations, and moments of public anxiety. The recent developments surrounding the formation of the new government were therefore not entirely unexpected. Democracies, after all, are rarely free from turbulence. But once the political spectacle settles, gove...

Three moments involving women in public life. Three very different afterlives. What they reveal is not just about media—but about how we respond to women in the public sphere. What Goes Viral, What Disappears In the age of breaking news, nothing really disappears. And yet, some things vanish faster than others. Not because they are insignificant. Not because they lack intensity. But because they do not fit the logic of what must be seen, circulated, and consumed. We have come to recognize this logic. Media today thrives on moments that can travel fast — moments that are sharp, repeatable, and emotionally charged enough to produce an immediate response. A headline. A clip. A reaction. And then, the next thing. But every now and then, a set of moments lingers — not because they stayed with us, but because they did not. Let me begin with three such moments. Three Moments In one instance, a woman in public life is seen in a brief but uncomfortable interaction with a male colleague from h...