Rasta Aur Basta

"Rajasthan or the 'Land of Kings' is an incredible tourist hub with its royal palaces,  vibrant culture, heritage centres and more." Last time I was in Jaipur, I was 16 and watched Dil to Bachha hai ji with relatives at the iconic Raj Mandir Cinema. This time I am mature, wild and frisking for stories every moment. From an open mindset to a traditional society with multi color shops at every corner, I chose this buoyant city for my maiden two day solo trip. No consensus, no queries and no obstruction: this is the charm of solo trip and yes you can step into any local bus without deciding the destination! Unlike, any other city Jaipur has every flavor that could easily replace it with Delhi as my beloved. Sparkling Jhumkas, time-worn buildings, huge gates in the walled city and traditional dresses: this is JAIPUR. Graffiti inside my stay, Destiny Hostel   HOSTEL (Not Hotel) Not every traveler has the privilege of staying at a place where...

Anurag Tripathi during the interview with the writer Anurag Tripathi is an investigative journalist with sixteen years of experience and has worked as editor, reportage at Newslaundry, and senior associate editor, Tehelka. He started his career with the Hindustan Times, Lucknow, and has worked with the Times of India, Aaj Tak, India TV and NewsX. In an interview to Bhavey on the sidelines of Times Litfest 2018 , he talked about his decade long investigation on Ram Rahim; political nexus between BJP and India TV; Dera’s BJP boycott in Rajasthan elections; his two month long chase for Khatta Singh who later became the protected witness of CBI and ultimately led to the conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim in August 2017. His book “Dera Sacha Sauda and Gurmeet Ram Rahim: A Decade-long investigation” published by Penguin was launched in April 2018. Excerpts of the interview: Bhavey (B) : Tell us about how you initially uncovered the Jhootha Souda series while working for Tehelk...

Municipal Corporations in five districts of Haryana: Karnal, Panipat, Yamunagar, Rohtak and Hisar, due in October,  goes to poll on 16 December. The announcement came nine months after the first announcement of wardbandi in Karnal Municipal Corporation followed by Panipat and other districts. Moving one step ahead towards transparency, after laying down educational qualifications for candidates contesting elections under Panchayati Raj Institutions, the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana approved direct election of mayors in September. The voters will not only vote for the ward councillor but also the mayor. This is in line with the elections for panches and sarpanches, where villagers vote for the sarpanch and the ward panch. Adding another feather on the crown, Khattar also gave nod to the cabinet decision of reserving Karnal mayor seat for woman candidate and neighboring Panipat for backward class woman while the post of the mayor is unreserved in Hisar, Rohtak ...

A farmer resting and smoking at Ramlila Maidan. (From facebook wall of  Basant Kumar) It’s 7 in the evening and groups of farmers were still arriving at the Ramlila Maidan . More than half full, farmers from several points in the capital- Majnu Ka Tila, Anand Vihar, Sarai Kale Khan and Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, were here from various states belonging to different organizations. “ Sabah tk aise hi aate rhenge ye ” said a local policeman on duty outside the main gate. The next leg of this march was, to encircle the parliament for their two demands: Full loan waiver and increased Minimum Support Price (MSP); through special parliament session. Farmers at the Sansad Marg on day 2 ( From facebook wall of  Prashant Kanojia) This Kisaan Mukti March was organized under the banner of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a coalition of 200 plus organizations formed in the wake of the Mandsaur ( in Madhya Pradesh) firing that killed six farmers ...

Senior Journalist P. Sainath during an interview. (Source: Video screen grab )    P. Sainath is an Indian journalist and Founder Editor of the People's Archive of Rural India, who focuses on social & economic inequality, rural affairs, poverty and the aftermath of globalization in India. He is the 2007 winner of the  Ramon Magsaysay Award (and often referred to as the ‘Asian Nobel’). He is also the former Rural Affairs Editor of  The Hindu. In an interview to a group of students from IIMC on the sidelines of Kisan Mukti March Day 1 at Ramlila Maidan , Sainath, who is often credited for mass farmer mobilization in March during Nashik to Mumbai Kisan Padyatra , he talked about the women representation in agriculture, stubble burning and response by Delhiites in the Kisan Mukti March. Excerpts: Tapasya (T): What do you think where the women stand in this agrarian crisis? Sainath (S): You have no chance of resolving the agrarian crisis when...

The first book stall just outside Delite Cinema Hundreds of people squeezed up in the narrow alleys where one have to be careful of not stepping upon dogs, cow-dung, dead rats and pray for less traffic: You’ve to believe that you are in Old Delhi. Take exit from Delhi Gate metro station’s gate number 3 on the violet line and you will witness a madman book club of your dreams! More than 250 book sellers put up their stalls on the pavement along Netaji Subhash Marg and Asaf Ali Road starting from Daryaganj-Faiz Bazar crossing to Delite Cinema every Sunday. For a book lover, one thing is persistent:  scavenging. They are ready to stop by every stall to get what he/she loves. Just like Puneet , a pharmaceutical professional in his 50s is coming to the market since 1990s. He said, “I use to come twice or thrice a month every Sunday and look for books of best authors before 20 th century that clicks me. Our Indian authors are still evolving. ” Rishu ’s book st...