Tca Raghavan

Delighted to hear this. Congratulations @NavtejSarna

A full page of road crash deaths in Sunday’s TOI. Some 150,000 lives lost on Indian roads every year. Corrupt licensing, rampant overspeeding, weak enforcement. One of the country’s biggest killers - and still barely a squeak.

The West Asia crisis has eclipsed some bright spots in South Asia, writes T.C.A. Raghavan. #IranUSWar #US #GazaGenocide‌ #Bangladesh #SouthAsia @leo_mukherjee @tca_raghavan telegraphindia.com/opinion/long-s…

My article in the Telegraph today.

Sounds familiar!!

Did you know that the composer of the famous Game of Thrones soundtrack is Iranian? This is a cover of the iconic piece on the Iranian Daf, arranged by Reza Sajjadi and the original composer of this music is Ramin Djawadi 🔥 Notice who is playing it?

Perhaps the most spectral rendition of La Marseillaise French army officer cadets sing in the Douaumont Ossuary which contains the remains of 130,000 soldiers who died at Verdun and the surrounding area during WWI (2025) #MardiMarseillaise

@AlexGandler @simon_schama Everything in your response seemed to me to suggest that perhaps just this once Max Hastings is more right than wrong.

Sad to hear of this. I had used this image in Attendant Lords.

India in Tunis and CIESSM thank the distinguished Indian speakers for their insightful contributions on security counter-terrorism at the India–Tunisia Dialogue Forum.@tca_raghavan @SoumyaAwasthi17 @atahasnain53 @abhinavpandya @PMOIndia @narendramodi @devyani_K @DrSJaishankar

#BREAKING Delhi Court discharges Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in the corruption case related to alleged liquor policy scam. Court raps CBI for implicating them without any material, says voluminous chargesheet has many lacunae not supported by any witness or statement. @ArvindKejriwal @AamAadmiParty @msisodia

Today we commemorate the birth anniversary of Thamizh Thatha, U. Ve. Saminatha Iyer. Had it not been for his relentless, selfless, and often physically exhausting efforts, much of our Sangam corpus,and their traditional commentaries might have remained buried in fragile palm-leaf bundles, lost to time, insects, neglect, and decay. In his autobiographical writing “Nilavil Malarntha Mullai”, he narrates the extraordinary journey of retrieving the manuscripts of Pathuppaattu. After publishing Civaka Cintamani, he learned of the existence of this ancient Sangam anthology. Determined to locate a complete manuscript, he began searching across Tamil Nadu — but found only fragments. Hearing that Tirunelveli housed many vidwans with manuscript collections, he decided to travel there. But the journey itself tested him with his bullock cart overturned on the way to the railway station, resulting in him carrying his luggage by hand. During the train journey, he was woken at midnight and told that the compartment had caught fire. Undeterred, he continued and reached Tirunelveli — only to face disappointment. No complete manuscript could be found. He then proceeded to Alwar Thirunagari and met Lakshmana Kavirayar, who possessed thousands of manuscripts. Yet even there, the needed text was not immediately available. Lakshmana Kavirayar mentioned that some manuscripts might be in his father-in-law’s house — but strained family relations prevented him from visiting. U. Ve. Sa did not give up. He persuaded him: “For the sake of Tamil.” That night, as the procession of Nammalvar moved through the street, Swaminatha Iyer prayed, “You who are known as Vedam Tamizh Seitha Maaran, bless me with the manuscripts of Pathu Paatu and enable me to publish this ancient work.” Moments later, Lakshmana Kavirayar returned with palm-leaf bundles. Under the moonlight, on the very street, Swaminatha Iyer eagerly opened them — and there he saw Mullai Paatu, one of the poems of Pathu Paatu. His joy knew no bounds. He later wrote that anyone who saw him that night might have thought him mad — such was his ecstatic happiness. He had secured seven of the ten poems with full commentary. The remaining three were obtained later, and he eventually published the complete text. Today, when we access Sangam poetry with ease, we must remember — behind those printed lines stands a man walking under moonlight, holding palm-leaf manuscripts like sacred treasure.

A Valentine to India 🇮🇳♥️🌹 Dil Se Productions

Shameful.

Today is Sarojini Naidu's birthday, she was the first woman Congress President, a poet and may be the first great exponent of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb. Here is an excerpt from her [poetic speech in Patna on October 13 1917. Do read. "It becomes a very simple thing to say that all men are neighbours of one another, brothers, blood ties, because they have the same tears and the same laughter. There­fore, perhaps, they may have the same kind of aspirations; the same quality of men may have the same kind of aspira­tions; so why make difference between the tillers of the soil whether he is a Muslim or a Hindu? Does he not suffer from drought, from the failure of harvest, from pestilence, from locusts? The school master, whether he be a Hindu or a Mussalman, has he not the same responsibility of creating within his hands (is he not a sharer of a common responsibility I ask) a bond between brother and brother whether he be a Hindu or a Mussalman? Then when floods come, and famines come, and plagues come, do not all of us suffer equally? Why make difference between men? Are there different angels of death for the Hindus and Mussalmans to carry them off? Does not every man feel that he must co-operate with each other, what matters if he be a Hindu or a Mussalman? Shall not a Brahmin carry on his head the corpse of a Mussalman and shall not a Syed carry on his head the corpse of a Hindu? What has the corpse of a Hindu or a Mussalman done not to deserve the same sense of honour from each of us who are equally created by God and who have been equally subject to mortality? These are trivial details of life. And when, gentlemen, feelings run high and passions are roused and when men forget this common brotherhood, what are the duties of those whose visions are not obscured? What are the duties of those who have not been excited by some little trifling cause that has such awful, far-reaching effect? Remember that blessed is the man that makes peace and thrice cursed is the man or woman that sets a little spark of fire into flames. Is not that what we have to remember when we see two brothers fighting at the street corner? Shall not we go to them and say, “Cease, brothers. Be friends.” That is the symbolism of what we should do when two communities are at the parting way of national life."

My article in the Telegraph today

@amitabhmattoo @JNU_official_50 @sisjnu_official Congratulations Prof. Richly deserved.

Thank you very much! Overwhelmed by the trust reposed in me by the Hon'ble Vice Chancellor of @JNU_official_50 and the support of the entire @sisjnu_official community of faculty, staff and students!

Website Now Live | India’s World Book Prize We are pleased to announce that the official website for India’s World Book Prize is now live. Authors interested in being considered are requested to connect with their respective editors or publishers, who may submit the book on their behalf. Each publisher may submit up to a maximum of 15 titles. Submission Deadline: March 30, 2026 For detailed submission guidelines, required materials, clarifications, and to submit nominated book titles along with author names, publishers may write to us at: 📧 indiasworldbookprize@gmail.com or reach out at +91 7905432911 (Vaishu Rai) 🔗 Visit the website: event.indiasworld.in/iwbp-ir/ @tca_raghavan @suhasinih @MohanCRaja @UnamPillai @LisaCurtisDC @kathuria_rajat

Michael Madhusudan Dutt remains one of history’s most eccentric and vibrant contradictions. ​During his days at Hindu College, he famously skipped any lecture that wasn't English literature, preferring to spend his time wandering the streets in a drunken haze mostly because he found every other subject beneath his interest. Even his conversion to Christianity was less about divine intervention and more of a calculated, albeit failed, attempt to secure a passage to the West. ​At the time, the idea of writing in Bengali, let alone speaking it was an embarrassment to him. His singular, burning ambition was to become the next Lord Byron, an English literary titan. ​However, reality eventually caught up. After returning from Madras with his dreams in tatters, he was forced to take a humble job as a court clerk in Kolkata. It was only through the persistent encouragement of the Rajas of Paikpara, Pratap Chandra and Ishwar Chandra, that he dipped his toes back into writing, initially just to translate Bengali plays into English. ​That reluctant return sparked a transformation. Starting with "Sarmistha" and a few sharp satires, he eventually pivoted from his English dreams to craft the immortal epic "Meghnad Badh Kabya", forever changing the language he once tried to disown. ​Read the thread 🧵 below for a deeper look into the life of this unforgettable poet. 👇👇