Mainstream Weekly

April 2026 Assembly Elections: The Jalebi Basket Test | Papri Sri Raman

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2026-03-31T02:59:32Z

FIVE INDIAN STATES go to the hustings in April 2026, amidst a huge tussle going on between federalism and unitarianism. This makes these assembly elections crucial to the survival of our constitutionally mandated federal structure. Election watchers need to also keep in mind that these will be the last assembly elections with existing population numbers, assembly seats will be re-determined after the next census. Populations of southern States will be much lesser than the northern States, (…)

- 2026

Mingma

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2026-03-19T03:31:33Z

Mingma Sherpa dozed in the mid-morning heat. He lay on his pellet on a hard wooden plank, a few feet from the floor, trying to read. The book fell off his hand soon and his eyes closed. He dreamt of the bright white sunlight streaming down from the skylight near the ceiling of the tiny dark room, lighting up the cage. It was an ordinary iron cage holding the little bird. A sparrow, looking rugged, also dozing, its little head tucked into its feathers.
Mingma asked himself why the sparrow (…)

- 2026

Golem Stole the Naravane Manuscript | Papri Sen Sri Raman

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2026-02-15T09:30:56Z

LIKE MOST OTHERS in India, I became infatuated with Dan Brown books when reading the second book of the Robert Langdon series, The Da Vinci Code, which had this gripping account of medieval freemasonry. Before reading Brown, I had thought of Freemasons as just another cult. After The Da Vinci Code, I looked it up.
Book 6 of the Langdon series is strategically called The Secret of Secrets. This one is labeled a

- 2026

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, Feb 7, 2026

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2026-02-07T05:40:00Z

Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja sheetalam

- 2026

Bihar will be Bihar, until . . . | Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, Nov 15, 2025

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2025-11-15T02:45:21Z

* Bihar has the highest Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) among Indian states, with the latest data showing 33.76% of its population is multidimensionally poor.
* Bihar's education index performance ranks last among states in the national Performance Grading Index (PGI) [1] 2023

- 2025

Oh! Orundhuti, Kamon Acho | Papri Sen Sri Raman

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2025-10-25T04:43:02Z

[fond noir][blanc]BOOK REVIEWblanc]fond noir]
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Mother Mary Comes To Me
by Arundhati Roy
Publisher: Penguin Random-House, India
374 pages
Price: Rs 899
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Very authoritative reviews of Mother Mary Comes to Me have been published in the first two months of the book

- 2025 / Book Review

Sumitda, a Beautiful Journalist | Papri Sri Raman

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2025-08-02T09:06:26Z

[fond noir][blanc]TRIBUTEblanc]fond noir]
Yes, it sounds a little zany to use the word beautiful in the context of a journalist. Not if one just said,

- 2025

Books, Films and Assassinations: The Kukunoor film a Reality Check | Papri Sen Sri Raman

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2025-07-12T13:18:42Z

FILMS AND BOOKS are an average educated person

- 2025

Why Zohran

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2025-07-05T05:41:29Z

New Yorkers on 25 June celebrated the victory of 33-year-old lawyer, Zohran Mamdani

- 2025

Probashi

Papri Sen Sri Raman — 2025-05-31T03:44:10Z

HE IS SUBTLE. So, he is less discussed than the younger Bollywood actors who are at best a few films old. Less written about in

- 2025