The PM’s speech in Toronto contained the analogy that while India and Canada growing separately would be a2 + b2, when joined together in friendship they would be (a+b)2 which equals a2 +2ab+b2, with the synergy giving an extra 2ab.
Articles by Manas Chakravarty
Rats, lizards ... feel at one with them through yoga
Manas Chakravarty answers some 'wonderful' queries on International Yoga Day.
Updated on Jun 21, 2015 01:29 AM IST
None | Manas Chakravarty, New Delhi
The Maggi episode fallout: A ban,ban,ban,ban world
Manas Chakravarty writes on what it would be like to live in a world that bans everything arbitrarily.
Updated on Jun 13, 2015 11:14 PM IST
If Alice had come to the Wonderland that is India
This is the 150th year of the publication of Alice in Wonderland. What if Alice came to India?
Updated on Jun 07, 2015 12:37 AM IST
None | Manas Chakravarty
Thirteen months of the NDA. It’s all about luck
Editor: Folks, we’ve called this meeting to plan our news stories for the next few weeks. The anniversary celebrations of the Modi government will soon come to an end. For several weeks, we have been subsisting on a staple diet of ‘one year of Modi’. After the bash is over, what on earth will we do?At least during the UPA days, we could rely on a steady supply of scams.
Updated on May 31, 2015 01:17 AM IST
NaMo has been promoted, can do better next time
We’re very happy young Namo is adjusting well to his new school. He has worked hard throughout the year. A detailed assessment follows:
Updated on May 23, 2015 10:18 PM IST
This is a bombshell for the Make in India campaign
We were discussing the spate of bomb blasts in West Bengal, the latest being a blast in a firecracker factory that allegedly doubled up as a bomb-making unit and a fight between armed groups in a local train in which several people were hurt.
Updated on May 16, 2015 11:20 PM IST
Experimenting with a new pee-pee-pee growth model
Gadkari's experiment opens up enormous opportunities for the country’s agriculture. The collective urinating power of over a billion people, soon to be called pee-ple, is not to be scoffed at. And then there is cow urine, buffalo urine, goat, elephant and other exotic urines to add to the flow, writes Manas Chakravarty.
Updated on May 10, 2015 12:31 AM IST
Depressed? There’s nothing wrong with feeling blue
All you need to do is look around you and you will soon be wondering why everyone isn’t depressed. Consider the newspaper headlines.
Updated on May 02, 2015 11:50 PM IST
Do yourself a favour and just give me your land
Look, bro, do you really want to be a small farmer? No, it’s not a rhetorical question. Just think about it. Do you really enjoy working your butt off doing back-breaking, thankless jobs on that handkerchief-sized plot of yours? What do you get for all your effort? A pittance, my friend.
Updated on Apr 25, 2015 10:56 PM IST
Getting the mathematics right on world peace
The PM’s speech in Toronto contained the analogy that while India and Canada growing separately would be a2 + b2, when joined together in friendship they would be (a+b)2 which equals a2 +2ab+b2, with the synergy giving an extra 2ab.
Updated on Apr 18, 2015 11:01 PM IST
Appraisal season: A pay hike or take a hike
In hundreds and thousands of companies across the country, the following conversation is going on
Updated on Apr 12, 2015 01:40 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Manas Chakravarty
Your favourite movies on the big screen this week
Here is my review of some of the entertainment this week:
Updated on Apr 04, 2015 10:34 PM IST
No point telling folks the cricket score. Who cares?
I welcome you all to the commentary from the Melbourne Cricket Ground on this gloomy Sunday. Eh, what was that? So what if it’s bright and sunny, people can get glum even on bright sunny days, can’t they? You come to Delhi when it’s 45 degrees in the shade and you’ll know sunny days are a pain.
Updated on Mar 28, 2015 10:45 PM IST
Thou shalt not change AAP into a mature party
Welcome, AAPians, to our first study class. I have been hopping in and out of Indian political parties of the right, left and centre for the last 30 years and am exceptionally qualified to give you deep insights into how to transform yourselves from a gaggle of activists, rebels, agitators, anarchists and idealists into a mature, disciplined, successful political party. I have, accordingly, formulated the following 10 commandments:
Updated on Mar 21, 2015 10:07 PM IST
Manas Chakravarty, New Delhi
Soul searching requires chillum, Sartre or brandy
After weeks of intensive searching, what did Rahul Gandhi see in the depths of his soul? Did he find himself? If he did, how did the self react to being found? Did it jump in joy? Or did it take a long, pitying look at Mr Gandhi, turn its back on him and mumble, ‘Thanks for taking the trouble, but I’d like to continue being lost, if I may,’ before going back to playing mah-jongg with the other lost selves?
Updated on Mar 14, 2015 10:42 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manas Chakravarty, New Delhi
Fish and chips, the Queen, bond — they all have to go
If there’s one thing that stands out in the film, it’s the courage of the young victim. It was courage that prompted her to strive for a brighter future against all odds, taking a night job in a call centre to pay for her education. It was this courage that allowed her to dream of setting up a hospital in her village.
Updated on Mar 07, 2015 10:06 PM IST
Manas Chakravarty, New Delhi
Let's add imaginative skills to the budget-making job
Just because we are humble domestic workers doesn’t give the finance minister and economists the right to insult our domestic product by calling it gross: Maid with a BA in Economics.
Updated on Mar 01, 2015 09:47 AM IST
Other parties are AAP the creek without a paddle
The spectacular victory of the Aam Aadmi party in the Delhi elections has led to a lot of soul-searching by political parties. Our unreliable sources have sent these unconfirmed reports:
Updated on Feb 14, 2015 11:26 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manas Chakravarty
Mr Sanctimonious or Ms Smug - a tough choice
Here are the results of exit interviews conducted by our expert team immediately after the voting booths closed in the Delhi elections:
Updated on Feb 07, 2015 11:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manas Chakravarty
Obama-Modi meet: This was our star showing his stripes for the visit
After the historic Obama-Modi summit, the burning question on everybody's lips is: why on earth did the prime minister have to wear a suit with his name written all over it? It is of course inconceivable that our humble, modest Pradhan Sevak's flaunting his name on the suit was an expression of unbridled narcissism and vanity. No chance of that. Instead, here are a few theories explaining the choice, along with expert comments, writes Manas Chakravarty.
Updated on Feb 01, 2015 02:55 AM IST
Dream of tandoori jhinga but you may get dhokla
In honour of President Obama’s visit to India on Republic Day, we have put together some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Some of them address any worries that Obama may have, while others are queries Indians have for the US president.
Updated on Jan 24, 2015 11:38 PM IST
A Science Congress held together by string theory
Of all the wonderful discoveries and inventions of yore, only the pyjama miraculously survived, writes Manas Chakravarty.
Updated on Jan 18, 2015 02:06 AM IST
How to become a convert to the art of conversion
A great debate is raging in the country on conversion and re-conversion. Manas Chakravarty gives his take on the drive undertaken by various political parties and other organisations.
Updated on Jan 04, 2015 12:28 AM IST
How did Malaviya get Bharat Ratna? This may be how it happened
‘We must,’ said the Big Boss, calling the meeting to order, ‘select a couple of names for the Bharat Ratna’. ‘Vajpayeeji, of course, is the first one,’ he said and everyone erupted in shouts of ‘Long live Atalji’.
Updated on Dec 27, 2014 10:20 PM IST
Merry good governance day, in the right spirit
In the confusion about the government declaring December 25 as Good Governance Day, some schoolkids have already allegedly submitted write-ups about the event. Here they are:
Updated on Dec 20, 2014 10:11 PM IST
Nothing worse than being born poor in this country
Very tricky characters, our cute Indian kids. You never know what they’ll be up to next. In 2013, guess what they did — 1.3 million of the little blighters died before reaching their fifth birthday. That’s 3,561 of them popping off every day, 148 every hour. Now what on earth do they mean by doing that?
Updated on Dec 13, 2014 10:08 PM IST
Manas Chakravarty, New Delhi
It’s high time we threw our many hats in the ring
Prime ministers usually wear more than one hat. Apart from his ministerial hat, he often has to put on an orator hat, sometimes a party leader hat, maybe an economist hat and even a foreign policy hat. Our prime minister has taken this multiple-hat thing to a whole new dimension.
Updated on Dec 07, 2014 01:35 AM IST
Sanskrit for starters and then biriyani for lunch
We seem to have asked everybody their opinion about replacing German with Sanskrit in schools except the students. To mend matters, here’s a selection of letters allegedly written by schoolkids, the contents of which are self-explanatory.
Updated on Nov 29, 2014 11:33 PM IST
Hooray, hooray, it’s a holiday, every single day
The spectre of history is haunting India. Wherever you turn, they seem to be talking of Nehru and Patel and Aryans and Hemu. Those of us who passed our history exams by smuggling in little slips of paper in our undies have a hunted look these days.
Updated on Nov 22, 2014 10:27 PM IST
Manas Chakravarty, New Delhi
An inspirational essay could help you bag a job
During the long hours I have spent in office, I have not only been able to master the quick crosswords of national newspapers, but have also graduated to solving the cryptic crosswords that appear in the international papers. To young civil servants eager to know my secret, I can only point to gruelling practice.
Updated on Nov 08, 2014 10:31 PM IST