-The Indian Express Here lies Ashis Nandy, who died of a bad joke". This would be the most appropriate epitaph for Nandy, insisted my colleague and sinologist, late Giri Deshingkar, in his rare moment of black humour. The reference, of course, was to Nandy's unusual way with words. Over the last four decades, Ashis Nandy has presented his insights through some very powerful symbols. He loves paradoxes and uses aphorisms, ironies...

-Yahoo With the government trying to gag everything that criticises its policies or actions, the day is not far when India too will be seen as 'illiberal'. Bizarre. Affectionate. Eccentric. These are some of the adjectives that have been used to describe India, but never has the word 'intolerant' become a prefix to our nation. However, with the government trying to gag everything that criticises its policies or actions, the day is...

-The Hindu It is time disability activism embraced language to debunk the myth that disabled people have unique skill sets A loud round of applause for Aamir Khan for bringing together diverse views on disability in his “Satyamev Jayate” programme. Sprinkled with Satire and humour, the TV show was a comment about the wider world from the viewpoint of disabled individuals with exceptional achievements. That said, it is important to evaluate what...

-The Economic Times At its root, the whole controversy on cartoons in NCERT textbooks underlines the malaise afflicting political debate in the country: passions whipped up in aid of divisive political ambitions. Here, rage and slanging matches trump reasoned debate. One of the stated reasons for the order of the six-member panel constituted to review cartoons - that politicians and bureaucrats can't be shown in an 'incorrect' way - amply reveals that...

The grand old  man of Indian cartooning RK Laxman has a delightful anecdote that embodies the charm of  political cartooning. Soon after the 1962 Sino-Indian war, Laxman lampooned Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his much-maligned defence minister Krishna Menon. That evening, Laxman got a call from the prime minister’s office. Picking up the phone, he was petrified of being at the receiving end of Nehru’s ire. He need not have...