The international order itself is racially structured
by Rashmee
Posted on April 7, 2021
/ TAKE UP ONE IDEA Some of the biggest arguments about power – who should have it and why – revolve around race. It goes beyond the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States and allegations of institutional racism in the UK. The very structure of the world order rests has a racial basis. … Continue reading “The international order itself is racially structured”
Read MoreLegislative thuggery in Georgia?
by Rashmee
Posted on April 2, 2021
/ LANGUAGE In 1897, Mark Twain described the menace of Thuggee in India on the basis of a 60-year-old British government report. Twain noted in ‘Following the Equator’ (sometimes published with the alternative title ‘More Tramps Abroad’) “that nobody could travel the Indian roads unprotected and live to get through; that the Thugs respected no … Continue reading “Legislative thuggery in Georgia?”
Read MoreWomen aren’t always superstar leaders…as Ursula von der Leyen illustrates
by Rashmee
Posted on March 3, 2021
/ TAKE UP ONE IDEA The other day someone gave thanks that Ursula von der Leyen is not a superstar leader in a crisis. The writer said that the European Commission president’s misjudgements are a clarifying point in the debate over women making better leaders than men. Ms von der Leyen, it should be remembered, … Continue reading “Women aren’t always superstar leaders…as Ursula von der Leyen illustrates”
Read MoreJobs after Covid-19: business not as usual
by Rashmee
Posted on March 2, 2021 / The National
This will be a significant week in terms of job prospects for millions around the world. In Britain, Wednesday’s annual budget will include £126 million ($175.6m) in new funding for 40,000 traineeships and “flexi-job” apprenticeships. In the US, the employment report for February is expected to show the strongest pace of hiring since November. And … Continue reading “Jobs after Covid-19: business not as usual”
Read MoreWhy it matters that American farmers are making common cause with India’s
by Rashmee
Posted on February 23, 2021
/ POLITICS & AMERICA I find it interesting that 87 farmers’ unions in the United States have made common cause with their protesting counterparts in India. The rights and wrongs of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to reform farming laws are contested. My friend Gurcharan Das, a former CEO of Procter & Gamble India, … Continue reading “Why it matters that American farmers are making common cause with India’s”
Read MoreIn Texas, 1870, Tom Hanks’ character reads The Times of India. About right
by Rashmee
Posted on February 21, 2021
/ TRAVELS IN MY MIND The opening scene of ‘News of the World’, the new Tom Hanks film, features a stack of newspapers. Some are Dallas titles, the New York Times, and then Captain Jefferson Kidd (the Hanks character) picks up The Times of India. In the film, the paper’s masthead looks like the one … Continue reading “In Texas, 1870, Tom Hanks’ character reads The Times of India. About right”
Read MoreIt really will be the year of the ox. We will all have to pull a heavy load
by Rashmee
Posted on February 10, 2021
/ TAKE UP ONE IDEA Looking ahead to Lunar New Year, Chinese Chunjie, Vietnamese Tet, Korean Solnal, Tibetan Losar, the Spring Festival, the ox is anointed as representative of 2021. I know that the Chinese have very particular meanings for the zodiac calendar (and something called the sexagenary cycle, which is a combination of 10 heavenly stems … Continue reading “It really will be the year of the ox. We will all have to pull a heavy load”
Read More#CoupKluxKlan. The headline that said it all came from India
by Rashmee
Posted on January 15, 2021
The nuanced way the world understood Donald Trump’s racially charged call to a mob to march on the US Capitol is best summed up in one headline. It was splashed across the frontpage of The Times of India, my old employer. “Coup Klux Klan”, said TOI, in reference to the troubling motivations of the pro-Trump … Continue reading “#CoupKluxKlan. The headline that said it all came from India”
Read MoreIt’s worth reading why the half-Indian Marina Wheeler, Boris’s ex-wife, worries about Modi’s ‘New India’
by Rashmee
Posted on November 20, 2020
Marina Wheeler, barrister, former wife of Britain’s prime minister and the mother of four of Boris Johnson’s children, began a recent opinion piece with a reference to her Sikh mother. Dip Singh was displaced from Pakistan in 1947, Ms Wheeler noted. While writing a book about her mother’s forced journey to India, “the fathers of … Continue reading “It’s worth reading why the half-Indian Marina Wheeler, Boris’s ex-wife, worries about Modi’s ‘New India’”
Read MoreIndia, Hungary, Turkey, Trump’s America
by Rashmee
Posted on October 29, 2020
In the way of television quizzes, here’s your starter for ten: What unites India, Hungary, Turkey and the United States? They’re governed by nationalist parties, all of which are increasingly promoting a faux democracy. The BJP, Fidesz, AKP and the Republican Party are a common thread that runs through the body politic of all four … Continue reading “India, Hungary, Turkey, Trump’s America”
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Rashmee has lived and worked in several countries in the past decade, including Afghanistan, India, Haiti, Tunisia, the UAE, US and UK