Quotes from Barkha Dutt

Nostalgia can be an awful bore, especially for those whose memories are painted in hues different from ours.

We can barely deal with men who set their own rules; to ask us to accept a woman who is individualistic, passionate, beautiful and yes, possibly annoyingly arrogant, makes us just a little nervous.

Covid-19-affected patients cannot be orphaned.

Patriotism need not be puritanical.

What other, newer democracies find relatively easy - conducting an election, the counting of votes, the peaceful transition of power - seems to have befuddled the United States (U.S.).

Parts of India treat Rushdie like he's a rock star; we especially like boasting about him to our Western friends and acquaintances. It's nice to act like one of the world's most successful authors is as homespun as our handloom saris.

When passion turns to paralysis, when our bodies stop listening to our brains, when a fatal disease sucks our insides out, will we then decide that death may well be an act of kindness?

We like to say we would never want anyone we care about to suffer. But is it because it's we who cannot see them in pain?

I don't care if a flight attendant is fat as long as she doesn't sneak back to the galley for a gossip when she should be pushing down the food trolley. I get annoyed when the food trays are slapped down on my seat by bored and disinterested men and women. I look for warmth and comfort, not cold efficiency.

It has become impossible for India to talk about caste with any candour.

What we take away from our school and college years is especially personal and rarely transferable to someone standing outside that circle of experience.

What people, both while voting or while watching television, seek is the same - to know what you stand for and whether you can tell a story that captures their imagination and holds their attention.

The United States - aspiring India's favourite country - had to learn the hard way that you ignore the world outside your door at great cost to your own survival.

No matter what you think of him otherwise, there are no two ways about it - Narayana Murthy is inextricably linked to the modern Indian's sense of self. So also is Sachin Tendulkar. Every time he goes out to bat, he carries with him the dreams of a billion people. Like many sporting legends, he is an iconic symbol of our subliminal nationalism.

The sanctimony that a section of the media wears like a second skin comes undone so fast when the scrutiny is on them.

Hindi news is much more determinedly populist and lowbrow than the English channels.

The crests and troughs in Covid-19 cases and the spikes and falls of daily infographics by which we now measure the wellness of our lives have been based mostly on city-driven data.

The real challenge to upholding India's freedoms is how patchy and individual-driven it is when it comes to the judiciary. The system is so arranged that instead of legal precedent and case law setting the template for the court's interventions, the idea of justice is guided by what Judge A or Judge B may think.

The fact is that a ghastly class prejudice defines our response to the Indian Diaspora.

India cannot pretend anymore that none of its citizens fancy membership to the Global Jehad club. We need to examine where our secularism has failed.

Women - whether in politics, media or business - can't have it both ways. We can't demand to be judged irrespective of our gender if we also plan to manipulate our sexual identity to our advantage. We can't both play the game and pretend to be sitting it out. We can't deliberately act 'female' and complain about male bias.

We do not have to be trapped in the simple-minded binaries of the western world.

You cannot hurl textbook principles of right and wrong in the age of fake news, WhatsApp campaigns and personality-centric cult politics. Elections are not a moral science class.

Modi's masterstroke has always been to blur the battlelines and construct an artificial enemy one that plays into primal instincts of pride and insecurity.