Friday, Apr 19, 2024 | Last Update : 11:24 PM IST

Patralekha Chatterjee Page-3

This year, Durga Puja, the biggest festival for Bengalis, was celebrated with more aplomb than ever since Unesco included “Durga Puja in Kolkata” in its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity last year. (Photo: PTI)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Festivals need to celebrate inclusion, not just diversity

In a fractured and increasingly polarised society, festivals offer a fantastic opportunity to be inclusive in its broadest sense

07 Oct 2022 12:00 AM

India now has the fifth largest economy but its per capita GDP is only around $2,500.

Patralekha Chatterjee | India’s pride, prejudice and its global rankings

The India of the future will depend on which metrics and indicators we choose to play up, and which ones we try to gloss over.

23 Sep 2022 1:55 AM

A boy pushes a table in a flooded locality of Bellandur after heavy monsoon rains, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, Sep. 7, 2022. (Photo: PTI)

Patralekha Chatterjee | India’s sinking story: Can we reimagine our cities?

Bengaluru continues to reel from torrential rains, flooded homes, widespread power cuts, submerged roads and more

09 Sep 2022 12:00 AM

The idea of development not only varies, it is constantly shifting. But crucially, it is the matter of the tag. (AA Image)

Patralekha Chatterjee | A lot needs to be done for ‘developed’ India by 2047

“Development”, like beauty, is a word that triggers lively discussions and polemical exchanges

26 Aug 2022 12:02 AM

Artists of Red Cross society wear coronavirus helmet to spread awareness about the pandemic in Jammu. (Photo: PTI)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Do our recent health crises offer teachable moments?

In the time of pandemics and climate change, no problem can be dismissed as someone else’s headache

30 Jul 2022 12:22 AM

An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel helps pilgrims on their way to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath. (PTI Photo)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Pilgrimages amid changing climate: Ensure safety first

What do pilgrimages mean in the time of climate change and the consequent rise in extreme weather events?

14 Jul 2022 11:34 PM

People pay their respects to slain Hindu tailor Kanhaiya Lal, who was allegedly killed by two Muslim men for supporting a former spokeswoman of the railing Bharatiya Janta Party for her remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, in Udaipur on June 30, 2022. (AFP)

Patralekha Chatterjee | It’s time to reclaim our minds, dial down hate

The impact of toxic hate speeches and hate crimes in recent years has gone deep into the gut of our society

01 Jul 2022 12:04 AM

FILE- Authorities demolish the residence of activist Javed Ahmad they say has been constructed illegally in Prayagraj, India, Sunday, June 12, 2022. (AP Photo)

Patralekha Chatterjee | A breakdown of governance? We need healing, rule of law

A bulldozer is not an accessory of good governance. And stone pelting is not the way to progress

17 Jun 2022 9:24 PM

Infant mortality is the end-result of a whole chain of interlinked ground-level challenges. (Representational Image/ Pexels)

Patralekha Chatterjee | India’s infant mortality rate isn’t a fringe issue

The latest data from the Registrar-General of India shows that India’s infant mortality rate is 28 (28 infant deaths per 1,000 live births)

10 Jun 2022 2:38 AM

Villagers wade through a flooded road after heavy rains in Hojai district of India's Assam state on May 19, 2022. (Photo:AFP)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Climate crisis to be India’s biggest threat this century

One reason wheat prices have shot up has to do with the intense heatwave that struck parts of India from March

20 May 2022 12:15 AM

We really have no option but to control our own emissions that are leading to climate change, and absolutely insist that the rest of the world does the same. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Rising stress of heat: Act now, before it gets worse

Cities and states are developing heat action plans, but the focus must remain on the most vulnerable

06 May 2022 12:09 AM

While the poor with little savings and social protection are obviously the worst-hit, the middle and lower-middle classes are also impacted by the sharp uptick in food and fuel prices. (Representational Image/ DC File)

Patralekha Chatterjee | It’s time to talk about food and impact of rising prices

When food costs more, many people have no choice but to eat less or eat cheaper, lower quality food

21 Apr 2022 11:16 PM

Patralekha Chatterjee | How to destroy a nation: Intolerance, profligacy…

The normalisation of hate often goes hand-in-hand with normalisation of the 'otherisation' of the minorities

08 Apr 2022 12:48 AM

In the process of economic growth, this country can’t afford to ride roughshod over ecological balance. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Managing future shocks: Way to self-reliant India

No one really knows what the world will look like in a year or two but at this moment it seems very likely that the war will continue

24 Mar 2022 12:32 AM

In a country where the vast majority are informal sector workers, the situation has been particularly grim for those at the bottom of the socio-economic food chain in a slowing economy. (Representational Image/ AFP)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Don’t treat the pandemic like yesterday’s story, yet

We need to also remember that Omicron arrived last year just when the endgame enthusiasm was gathering momentum

10 Mar 2022 2:54 AM

26-year-old Harsh, a tailor and Bajrang Dal leader, who was murdered. (Twitter)

Patralekha Chatterjee | India needs healing touch to curb sectarian violence

Anyone who watches the news knows about the recent murder of 26-year-old Harsh, a tailor and Bajrang Dal leader

24 Feb 2022 1:37 AM

Activists from Students Federation of India (SFI) hold placards during a demonstration against the recent hijab ban in few of Karnataka's educational institutes, in Chennai on February 10, 2022. (Photo: AFP)

Patralekha Chatterjee | The Hijab row: Beyond the hype and hysteria

Why do people care more about a headscarf worn by a woman than what is going on inside her head?

12 Feb 2022 12:42 AM

A train burns after the aspirants set it on fire during their protest over alleged erroneous results of Railway Recruitment Boards-Non Technical Popular Categories (RRB-NTPC) exams, at Gaya Junction railway station. (Photo:PTI)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Don’t let hopes fall: Make jobs Budget’s top priority

In the pandemic’s third year, jobs must be the top priority. It’s not enough to depend on any trickle-down theory

28 Jan 2022 11:05 PM

Recently, there was a conclave of so-called sadhus in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, which gave a call for killing and wiping out Muslims. (Representational Image/ AP)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Push back against hate: Redefine ‘new normal’

In many countries, the unfolding tragedy of the Covid-19 pandemic has been accompanied by intense polarisation

13 Jan 2022 1:29 AM

It’s no secret that millions of jobs have been lost since the onset of the pandemic and workers who are part of the informal sector, the mainstay of the Indian economy, have been very badly hit. (Representational image: PTI)

Patralekha Chatterjee | Polarisation in pandemic times is the price we pay

The narrative grabbing headlines in recent days pivots around the persistent drip-drip of hate speech against minorities

30 Dec 2021 7:30 AM

3 of 14

Columns

Mohan Guruswamy