Ashutosh Bhardwaj

In 2013, I ran away from work to listen to him speak. In 2025, when the world tunes into the master, a forgotten chapter of my life returns to me. László Krasznahorkai once ignited my dreams and, perhaps, also lent them the sense of an ending. thewire.in/culture/laszlo…

For a longer account of how the Nixon Kissinger use of Pakistan for the US's China opening affected all of South Asia, pl do read my chapter, and the one by @tanvi_madan in A New Cold War, edited by @Barugaru1 @Usibc_md share.google/82woT0TB5Mj4T4…

Avoid wasting four hours on trash. YouTube has quality cinema. Absolutely free. Sergei Bondarchuk's War & Peace. Tarkovsky's Stalker and Solaris. BBC's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Apu Trilogy & Shyam Benegal's documentary on Ray. Czech masterpiece Marketa Lazarová.

@varungrover @VidyaKrishnan I concur. This powerful work also reminded me of Susan Sontag's Illness As Metaphor, a haunting portrayal of TB.

Blown away by the expanse of research, history of humanity vs the TB bacteria, and the present (scarily abysmal) state of India’s TB policy. @VidyaKrishnan has packed so much rigor and heart in this easy and yet unsettling read. Highly recommended.

In November 2024, @project_polis and I started taking a closer look at India's plans to become a self-reliant weapons exporter. How this ambition has played out on the ground is alarming at multiple levels (from national security to militarisation within India). Do read.

The Wire's Sukanya Shantha Wins 'Fearless Journalism' Award for Series on NIA Guilty Pleas thewire.in/media/sukanya-…

@ashubh Thank you for your lovely piece in @the_hindu. I’m grateful for your attention and appreciation🙏🏼✨ frontline.thehindu.com/arts-and-cultu…

During a long jail term in 1922, Nehru read voraciously, books on history, politics and literature, taking notes and providing summaries as he went along. This capsule book review, dated 10th August 1922, seems to anticipate the thinking of Edward Said: “This book — Barnett’s ‘Antiquities of India””— is an extraordinary example of labour without understanding, of perspiration without any inspiration. This is often found in books on Oriental subjects by European scholars. They start with a presumption of superiority and never really understand their subject in spite of great industry. Barnett must have read a vast number of books on India and the East and yet he is utterly ignorant of his subject, or rather he is in a worse position, he has gone off on the wrong track. With great labour he has collected together oddities, absurdities, obscenities and the many crudities which have grown round the religion and social customs of Ancient India and he judges of old times by these and piously holds up his hands in horror! As if these are the sum total of social life in India. Books of this kind are very misleading and must do a lot of mischief.”

The great American dream. The phenomenal capacity to get your citizens killed in pursuing a fantasy...

Chabahar surrender is well-known. A young Persian-Sanskrit scholar currently heads Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Tehran. Reflects India's investment in Iran. Silence on Israel's illegal attack will make India fail an important ally crucial for its own cultural manifesto.

Several attorneys changed over 18 months. What prompted Nikhil Gupta's guilty plea? I report. As the establishment celebrates a movie about a fictional spy in Karachi, a different reality has arrived – Indian government abandoning its citizens. thewire.in/law/what-promp…

Who is B Sumathi, the intelligence officer behind Maoist commander Devuji’s surrender indianexpress.com/article/india/…

Remembering Jayaprakash Narayan and revisiting the idea of democratic courage. In conversation today at India International Centre, New Delhi. Do join us.

@NMenonRao @paul_mcgarr Here's my reported piece on the civilizational crisis Europe is facing; on how Davos has changed since Thomas Mann chose it as the site of The Magic Mountain; on the hope a beleaguered Charles de Gaulle could still locate in Hitler's Germany. frontline.thehindu.com/world-affairs/…

@NMenonRao .@paul_mcgarr has a powerful, anecdotal piece on the profound challenges Trump poses to India. + frontline.thehindu.com/world-affairs/…

.@vaishnaroy asked me to put together the cover story of this special issue. Get a copy for some incisive essays on a specter looming large on the planet. + frontline.thehindu.com/current-issue/…

In all seriousness: @ICC should give you a gold medal for you are doing for cricket… Ideally, it should also outsource its own handle to you brilliant Icelanders…

Warmest congratulations to Charu Gupta, who has won the A.K. Coomaraswamy Prize 2026 for her outstanding book, Hindi Hindu Histories. (pub. Permanent Black, @AshokaUniv & @SUNY Press). We couldn't be happier. Details here: tinyurl.com/yms6cen4

Grateful to @frontline_india & @ashubh for commissioning a piece on India in the Trump 2 era. Not the easiest article to write given the speed at which events in India continue to evolve viz. the US & EU See👇 frontline.thehindu.com/world-affairs/… @warstudies @DSD_Kings

After @instagram , @X complies with government order banning the cartoon.