menu_open Columnists

Mathrubhumi English

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Satheesan, Pinarayi and Kerala’s politics of silence

Satheesan, Pinarayi and Kerala’s politics of silence

The most striking image from the aftermath of the Enforcement Directorate search connected to Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, Veena Thaikkandiyil, was...

yesterday 10

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Parties with nothing to hide send lawyers, not mobs

Parties with nothing to hide send lawyers, not mobs

What unfolded in Thiruvananthapuram on the May 27 was not the conduct of a political movement confident in its innocence. It was the behaviour of a...

thursday 10

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

The Krishna Kumars and the paradox of influencer intimacy

The Krishna Kumars and the paradox of influencer intimacy

During a recent family vlog, YouTuber Diya Krishna aka Ozy Talkies addressed a question from subscribers about why she calls her in-laws “aunty”...

26.05.2026 10

Mathrubhumi English

Neelima Menon

Govt ‘lost sight of the ball’ amid economic warning signs

Govt ‘lost sight of the ball’ amid economic warning signs

“It’s just all accumulating together. We have frayed relations with the U.S. over tariffs, we are on the wrong side of the AI mania, we are a big...

26.05.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

P Chidambaram

Much of the Left still does not understand why they lost Kerala’s mandate

Much of the Left still does not understand why they lost Kerala’s mandate

The most revealing part of the Left's crushing defeat in Kerala has not been the defeat itself. Elections are lost all the time, governments...

26.05.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

How Satyajit Ray captured a generation in Pratidwandi?

How Satyajit Ray captured a generation in Pratidwandi?

Pratidwandi (The Adversary) is said to be the first among the three city-centered films Satyajit Ray made. This celluloid journey began in 1970 to be...

26.05.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Shoma A Chatterji

Sooryavanshi and Kohli: Youth and experience at centre of IPL spectacle

Sooryavanshi and Kohli: Youth and experience at centre of IPL spectacle

The IPL feast is reaching the playoff stage and, indeed, it has been exciting all the way as the ten teams did their bit to earn a slot in this final...

26.05.2026 10

Mathrubhumi English

Sr suryanarayan

Trump hits pause as Gulf monarchies fear Iran’s retaliation

Trump hits pause as Gulf monarchies fear Iran’s retaliation

Donald Trump now claims that he paused another attack on Iran after Gulf leaders urged him to step back and give diplomacy another chance. One almost...

26.05.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Cockroach Janta Party and the anxiety of power in India

Cockroach Janta Party and the anxiety of power in India

The sudden rise of the 'Cockroach Janta Party' (CJP) may look like a meme, a joke, or merely another fleeting internet phenomenon. But...

26.05.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

When the Vishwaguru has to seek Uncle Sam's approval

When the Vishwaguru has to seek Uncle Sam's approval

There was a time when India spoke the language of strategic autonomy with a certain confidence. One did not have to agree with every foreign policy...

26.05.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Great Nicobar may not be a scam, but it may be too much

The debate over the Great Nicobar project has quickly turned into a familiar shouting match. It was re-ignited a few days ago when Rahul Gandhi...

01.05.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Spices are the key to a renewed export future

I write these words in Kochi, a city whose very history is intertwined with the global spice trade. For over two millennia, this coastline has...

01.05.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Shashi Tharoor

Beyond the hype: Four times Mammootty and Mohanlal felt effortless together

Patriot (directed and written by Mahesh Narayanan) arrives at a moment when both Mammootty and Mohanlal stand magnificently at the peak of their...

30.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Neelima Menon

UAE's OPEC walkout will not end USD reign

The temptation, when a country like the United Arab Emirates walks out of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is to read it as...

29.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

One Nation, One Election - A defining test for Indian Democracy

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Mr Narendra Modi is unlike any other party in India — past or present. Its goal is not to win elections as...

26.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

P Chidambaram

Donald Trump and the discipline of Indiscipline

There is a temptation to dismiss United States President Donald Trump as an aberration, a crude interruption in an otherwise continuous arc of...

25.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Stone statue in a glass cage: How Kerala forgot its Guru

“The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains, no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always...

25.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Mg Radhakrishnan

An extended ceasefire that changes nothing

There is a certain pattern to the way this crisis (Iran-US) has unfolded, and it is hard to ignore once you see it. A ceasefire is announced with some...

22.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

US-Iran meet in Islamabad: Vance moves, but motives mute

There is a particular kind of analysis that thrives in moments like this. An analysis that stitches together travel schedules, silences,...

21.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Ayush Shetty and Vaishali have made India proud

The cricket fever continues thanks to the IPL which is warming up to exciting stages ahead. In this midst to add further cheers to sports fans have...

21.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

S.r. Suryanarayan

Delimitation deception: Opposition claims Govt’s narrative on women’s quota collapses

The government and the BJP tried to weave a narrative around the Constitution (131st) Amendment Bill, 2026. The narrative was deeply flawed: it was...

19.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

P Chidambaram

Counting women, counting seats

There is a peculiar comfort in numbers. They arrive with an air of finality, stripped of emotion, seemingly untouched by ideology. In public policy,...

18.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Delimitation and the illusion of neutral numbers

India is once again at one of those quiet turning points that do not announce themselves with drama, but with data. The map doing the rounds is not...

17.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Stout and Tender

In the vast, often self-indulgent landscape of contemporary poetry, Badri Raina’s “Stout and Tender” arrives like a sharp intake of breath on a...

15.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Shashi Tharoor

Trump's absurd Strait stunt

United States President Donald Trump has said and done countless stupid things in public. Few, however, match the spectacular idiocy of ordering the...

14.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Paying the price for looking away during crisis

It would be wrong for India to say it is surprised that Pakistan has taken the lead in mediation of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran....

13.04.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Salman Khurshid

Polling, prediction and anti-incumbency

The yawning gap between voting and the declaration of results in the recent Kerala Assembly election has created a period of high tension and gripping...

13.04.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Mg Radhakrishnan

An election-eve gambit

The two Houses of Parliament were adjourned on April 2, 2026 after completion of the financial business of the Budget session. It was the right time...

12.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

P Chidambaram

A ceasefire built for headlines, not peace

Donald Trump is once again doing what he does best. He is trying to market confusion as statesmanship, improvisation as strategy, and a pause in...

11.04.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

What makes Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro a ‘cult’ film 43 years later

By definition, a ‘cult’ film, commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following with a specific group of fans....

11.04.2026 40

Mathrubhumi English

Shoma A Chatterji

War ends, but real danger stays

The ceasefire between the US, Israel, and Iran may have stopped the bombs for now -- but do not celebrate too early. Only these three countries will...

09.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Girish Linganna

The Profanity of Power : How Donald Trump turns war into spectacle

Donald Trump has a gift for taking an already dangerous situation and making it utterly morally vulgar. What should have been handled with discipline,...

07.04.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S

Opinion: When is a war lost?

Wars are among the oldest constants in human history. Yet each new conflict reopens an old and unsettling question: why does humanity continue to...

07.04.2026 20

Mathrubhumi English

Uttam Prakash

IPL and the exciting pool of talent

Cricket and more cricket. More the merrier as they say! The T20 World Cup had ended not long ago and soon thereafter came in another T20 fixture__the...

07.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

S.r. Suryanarayan

Charak: A chilling cinematic critique of rituals and human sacrifice

Southern cinema is flooded with the focus on religious rituals and festivals but Hindi cinema is not as much replete with films revolving around...

05.04.2026 70

Mathrubhumi English

Shoma A Chatterji

April showdown: Ideologies clash as key states head to high-stakes polls

I do not know which planets will confluence or which planet will be retrograde but, looking at the political scene in India, I can say ‘we live in...

05.04.2026 40

Mathrubhumi English

P Chidambaram

When Rupee speaks more honestly than the government

India's falling rupee is not an illusion. Nor is it some harmless technical fluctuation to be explained away by the same regime that once treated...

04.04.2026 30

Mathrubhumi English

Harikrishnan S