-kdzB-U102101791886U6-250x250%40HT-Web.jpg "Aarish Chhabra")
Aarish Chhabra is an assistant news editor at Chandigarh. He handles the regional online portal and social media team, besides reporting and writing primarily on politics and socio-cultural markers.
Articles by Aarish Chhabra
United colours of AAP: Characters in Kejriwal’s Punjab caravan
It takes all kinds. As Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal cuts across Punjab in a five-day tour, his events see not only numbers but faces too.
Updated on Feb 29, 2016 09:20 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Jalandhar
‘Raj Karega Khalsa’: Kejriwal plays Panthic card in Sikh heartland
While the slogan in its literal sense only means ‘The pure will rule’, it has strong radical connotations, also having been misused by Khalistanis to denote their Sikh separatism call. On what was Day 3 of his Punjab tour, Kejriwal also increased the frequency of his ‘Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’ calls, as he travelled out of Malwa into the Majha belt, an area known to have strong religious feelings and an active set of radical Sikh groups.
Updated on Feb 28, 2016 12:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Tarn Taran/amritsar
Car-Free Day: Let’s start with the first gear, please
Now, there is talk that outside vehicles would be permitted to go through the city with special passes. It conveniently ignores that a good number of residents of the suburbs have cars that have ‘CH’ numbers. Will those be considered outside vehicles and be exempted too? Of course not, since that’d be impossible to figure out.
Updated on Feb 28, 2016 10:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra
Badals have squeezed every drop out of Punjab, says Kejriwal
On the second day of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal’s Punjab tour a year ahead of the polls, assistant news editor Aarish Chhabra travelled with the Delhi CM from his guest house in Bathinda to Abohar.
Updated on Feb 27, 2016 07:32 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Abohar
Punjab farmers’ suicide : Missing families, sudden relief as Kejriwal comes calling
Pyar Kaur says she does not like to lie, “par sach vi main bol nahi je sakdi”. She cannot afford to speak the whole truth either, she adds. This octogenarian, whose three sons committed suicide over 15 years due to farm distress and debt, was to be the centrepiece of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s visit here. But she and her lone teenaged grandson, with whom she lives, were reportedly asked by local Akali cadres to leave the house for that while.
Updated on Feb 27, 2016 06:19 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Paakan (fazilka)
‘Punjab’s Dalits, beware’: Kejri spin on Capt’s quota comment
Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal cautioned Punjab’s Dalit communities about Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh’s recent statement seeking reservation for the poor among general categories.
Updated on Feb 27, 2016 09:33 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Abohar
Sukhbir wrong: Punjab indeed has a drug problem, worse than India, world
Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday claimed that “out of the total 2.77 crore population in the state, only 0.06% were found using drugs”, citing “a study conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi”. That essentially means 16,000 people.
Updated on Feb 19, 2016 10:00 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
On Delhi model:Tech in hand, feet on the ground, AAP banks on volunteers
Even as it struggles on who would be its top leader in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claims to have nailed its poll preparation at the lowest level.
Updated on Feb 15, 2016 12:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
By the way:Thanks for the hate on Valentine’s, my love
Hate is not the right kind of word to start a Valentine’s Day article with. But I sincerely hate how easy it is to be in love these days. In fact, I hate the whole modern concept of love. No, not for that super-villain called Western Influence, or because I am single, which I am not, by the way. Nor am I hyperventilating over some leftover bitterness of a recent break-up that I may or may not have liked. Like I said, I have a problem with the ease of it.
Updated on Feb 14, 2016 10:20 AM IST
‘Burn down Pakistan, dear Modi’: Watch Haryana art council chief adviser in action
He claims to be ‘Shar-A-Hindustan’ (Lion of Hindustan) and is a vocal ‘Narendra Modi Bhakt’ (admirer/devotee), using his heavy vocal chords to profess his love for the Prime Minister. He also has much space for hate, though, directed mostly at Muslims, the Congress, the Gandhis in particular, and anybody in general who does not love Modi
Updated on Feb 12, 2016 06:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
HT Analysis: AAP-ousted Balkar Sidhu’s Cong entry means little on ground
He was given the AAP ticket for 2014 Talwandi Sabo bypoll that was later taken back over allegations of human trafficking. He fought as Independent but lost badly, finishing fourth
Updated on Feb 09, 2016 11:37 PM IST
Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
By the way: Too smart for the list
Like everyone who has ever had a girlfriend or boyfriend or something resembling that, I too have known heartbreak, up close and personal. But nothing really could have prepared some of us for what happened on the 28th day of January in the year 2016.
Updated on Jan 31, 2016 09:39 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
Bytheway: Kiku, Pita-G, and reverse psychology via Sirsa
If Kiku Sharda had to face jail, if at all, it should’ve been for his obnoxious ‘Palak’ act on Kapil Sharma’s consistently crass show. Mimicking the Sirse-wale Babaji was, in fact, among his more refined performances. Ask anyone who’s dabbled in acting, and you’d know that it’s easier to lampoon a non-existent Palak than it is to play a living super-person with the required finesse.
Updated on Jan 17, 2016 10:44 AM IST
HindustanTimes | Aarish Chhabra
Bytheway: Maid in India: Lift them up, hike them down
There were about 40 of them. They weren’t raising any slogans. Some standing, some sitting on the kerb, some chatting and laughing, some quiet, resolute — all of them visibly upbeat about being together in whatever they were doing. It had to mean something. A group of labour-class women do not gather on the street for nothing.
Updated on Jan 03, 2016 09:28 AM IST
HindustanTimes | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
By the way: Right of admission reserved
No goofiness, no romance, no making fun! This is a matter of life and death; a matter of our country’s future; a matter of such importance that reams of newsprints have to be coloured with it.
Updated on Dec 20, 2015 09:24 AM IST
By the way: Vendors on the ‘smart’ street
He’s been at that same spot for three decades and more. He does not bother who’s in the waiting line; be it a judge or a peon or a cop, or a journalist who’s here to interview him and probably make him famous.
Updated on Dec 06, 2015 09:54 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
By the way: Calvin, Hobbes, and their profound antics
They ask the most difficult of questions, and hold almost all the answers. They do the craziest of things, but deliver the profoundest of lessons. They get into the worst kinds of trouble, and show the simplest of ways out. Meet the most philosophical six-year-old boy ever, and his best friend, a tiger, who seems to know human nature better than any other soft toy ever could.
Updated on Nov 22, 2015 12:27 PM IST
HindustanTimes | Aarish Chhabra
By the way: When you get to a hundred
There’s something about the number 100 that’s quite unsettling. Believe me.
Updated on Nov 08, 2015 01:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra
Latent majoritarianism afflicts media, society today
It’s like a detergent ad, with two brands pointing to the failures of each other at achieving whiteness
Updated on Nov 07, 2015 03:19 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra
By the way: That poster on a café wall
Someone, anyone, please, make me meet these people who come up with motivational quotes that adorn the walls of cafes and pubs these days. They deserve a thorough thrashing, I tell you. Especially the one who said, ‘Follow your dreams.’
Updated on Oct 25, 2015 12:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra
By the way: A philistine at a lit fest
For someone conveniently perceived to be a voracious reader with a literary bent of mind — just because he is a journalist, pets a bushy beard, writes about eight hundred words on random topics every few days, and mostly talks like he knows stuff — the Khushwant Singh Literature Festival in Kasauli is a golden opportunity to watch and learn.
Updated on Oct 11, 2015 09:23 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra
By The Way: When Chacha Modi came visiting
Narendra Modi knows his subjects well. And he clearly thinks of the long term. Yet again, these two theories rang true when he came to Chandigarh this past Friday, for his first visit after taking over as our prime minister-cum-king-cum-pradhan sewak-cum-chowkidar-cum-yoga demonstrator. Here’s how.
Updated on Sep 13, 2015 09:45 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra
By the way: Papa-G is back
Using all-caps and multiple signs of exclamation are grammatical sins that should never be carried over from Twitter to a newspaper article. But, pardon me, I’ll have to do that today to properly convey my truest feelings about the divinest news announcement to have been made on the face of our planet, or even beyond, since the beginning of time — MSG-2 IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!
Updated on Aug 30, 2015 10:54 AM IST
Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
Porn ban: Indian govt's marketing mantra to make it look sexier
Have you ever read the last few pages of those Hindi magazines meant for women? The Grehshobha-Sarita types? They carry terrifyingly complicated knitting patterns, and some fine cooking recipes, besides more-than-readable articles. But I am talking about the last pages, my friends. Never mind. We’ll come to that later. First, let’s talk about the optimum use of our imagination.
Updated on Aug 09, 2015 07:23 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
By the way: Hello, majra kya hai?
As you cross the border from Punjab and leave behind that perpetual construction site called Zirakpur, a replica of Le Corbusier’s Open Hand monument welcomes you. But, for another couple of kilometres, before you enter the sectored neatness of the City Beautiful, there is a rural-urban mess that could well make you think that Chandigarh is not here yet.
Updated on Jul 26, 2015 12:33 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra
By the way: A lungful of petrichor, please!
Summer rain and City Beautiful have quite a stereotypical romantic relationship. Like a deeply besotted couple, they love to fight and not even talk for weeks, and then make up with overly cheesy conversations and late-night dates that never seem to end. This rainy season in Chandigarh has begun much like that.
Updated on Jul 12, 2015 01:18 PM IST
Chandigarh: Driving licence test set to get tougher
Adorned with artful illustrations that bring it closer to Chandigarh and its satellite towns, the road safety manual for the UT administration has been readied by the NGO ArriveSafe, giving the subject a friendly treatment and a tasteful twist.
Updated on Jul 10, 2015 04:02 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
By the way: Not so gay about it
This article is about the US Supreme Court legalising samesex marriage, and where we still stand. But let’s start with a longish story before we get to the point.
Updated on Jun 28, 2015 01:24 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra
Claims tall, but digitisation of Chandigarh's estate office files in slow motion
Even as the UT administration claims that it would complete digitisation of the UT estate office record by October, work on the ground has barely reached the 15,000 mark out of the total 77,000-odd files in nine months so far.
Updated on Jun 26, 2015 10:30 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh
Online system: Offering link on own site, RLA pokes vendor
As the affixation of high-security registration plates (HSRPs) on pre-March 2013 series is still not on the fast track, the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) has again asked the private vendor doing the job to put the procedure online.
Updated on Jun 24, 2015 10:15 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Aarish Chhabra, Chandigarh