Weekend Reads

  1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made 2019 a near-referendum on himself, after forcing “revolutionary change on a civilisation that got too used to baby steps”, writes Swapan Dasgupta in the Times of India. 
  2. Manu S Pillai in Mint looks back to the Congress and Indira Gandhi to remind us that grand gestures may seem well thought out even if they actually aren’t, and end up having disastrous consequences. 
  3. The demonetisation move means a large portion of India is now suddenly discovering digital options to traditional routes. That’s a huge opportunity for the industry, but in a country where the internet infrastructure is still fledgling, it’s also a massive challenge, Rajiv Singh reports in the Economic Times. 
  4. The Indian Express’ Stories of Strength series collects photos and reportage from the people who survived the Mumbai attacks, eight years ago.
  5. “Nothing betters an artiste whose charisma and charm equal his prodigious talent. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, who passed away on November 22 at 86, was one such,” writes Sudha G Tilak in Blink. 
  6. Prashant Reddy Thikkavarapu in the Caravan writes of how new Aadhaar regulations grant unchecked power to Unique Identification Authority of India, while offering almost nothing in the way of convenience to users. 
  7. “People say I am very ambitious; some say over-ambitious. But would they say so if a man was entering politics?” Namita Kohli in the Hindustan Times profiles Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. 
  8. Dilip D’Souza in Mint writes about the creativity a shrewd, imaginative and enterprising captain can display in a Test match, after South Africa’s Faf Du Plessis decided to declare at 259/9.
  9. Why is tech innovation for women fixated on rape, asks Nisha Susan in The Ladies Finger. “What about the rest of our lives?”
  10. The only Fidel Castro obituary you need to read comes from Glenn Garvin in the Miami Herald.