Barkha Dutt

“For decades, the Left has occupied a special place in the minds of educated Indians - outside of the two states (Bengal and Kerala) where it has a political presence and is therefore treated like any other political party.”

“Textbook journalism everywhere in the world has always frowned upon the sting as a tool of reporting.”

“As women, many of us have internalised our lives as a prolonged version of boot camp, a sort of Darwinian call to toughen up or perish. As young women, we are terrified that men we consider our mentors can turn out to be monsters.”

“Women - whether in politics, media or business - can't have it both ways. We can't demand to be judged irrespective of our gender if we also plan to manipulate our sexual identity to our advantage. We can't both play the game and pretend to be sitting it out. We can't deliberately act 'female' and complain about male bias.”

“Flight attendants need to think on their feet and walk on their toes. An emergency landing can't be steered by a pot-bellied cabin crew that crawls or belly-walks.”

“The BJP promised that the end of Article 370 was going to be the close of business-as-usual in Kashmir. But if anything defines business-as-usual, it has been New Delhi's attempts at political engineering in the Valley.”

“I am not a pundit or a psephologist and thus not in the business of calling elections.”

“No matter what you think of him otherwise, there are no two ways about it - Narayana Murthy is inextricably linked to the modern Indian's sense of self. So also is Sachin Tendulkar. Every time he goes out to bat, he carries with him the dreams of a billion people. Like many sporting legends, he is an iconic symbol of our subliminal nationalism.”

“No one wants to trivialise the gigantic challenge of battling terrorism or undermine the sacrifice of our soldiers and policemen.”

“If anything, I believe, television anchors have become parodies of themselves, self-caricatures if such a thing is possible. And I'd dismiss it all with a scornful laugh if broadcast news were not so dangerous in fanning misogyny, communalism, fake news and divisiveness.”

“The truth is that every news channel is a variant of the other and the difference is one of degree.”

“You can't define yourself either in shades of what you are contesting or entirely in antithesis to it. By doing so, what you reveal is that you have nothing to say for yourself. Or that you are unsure of your messaging.”

“It's never said out aloud, or in so many words, but for many urban, upper caste Indians, 'the backwards' are precisely that - citizens of the hinterland, ungainly and otherworldly - an inconvenient blemish on their shining, gleaming future.”

“In many ways, Ahmed Patel was the mind of Sonia Gandhi. Nearly everything we know about her publicly was constructed or revealed with his enabling.”

“I don't watch television news and, so, whatever I know is from online snippets released by various channels.”

“The crests and troughs in Covid-19 cases and the spikes and falls of daily infographics by which we now measure the wellness of our lives have been based mostly on city-driven data.”

“We like to say we would never want anyone we care about to suffer. But is it because it's we who cannot see them in pain?”

“Our ideas of consent have evolved and changed because feminism has pushed the boundaries.”

“If the airline industry were to evolve a common fitness standard for both male and female employees, that would not just be acceptable, it would be entirely desirable.”

“The rise of Right-wing populism globally has divided not just countries, but families. It has broken relationships and torn apart friendships. It has created social media discord and abuse, and led to unprecedented name-calling.”