Amitava Kar

IN OTHER WORDS

Amitava Kar writes to us from Ottawa, Canada.

Responsible is something to be

The book explores how people can regain their political fate from professional politicians and be the heroes we need today.

5m ago

Walk to be free

What is it about our own thoughts that are so awful that we cannot spend a minute alone with them? There is only one way to find out. Unplug, go outside, and walk.

1y ago

What the story of Kaavan tells us

Amid the sad, the sordid and the sensational, let us look at some other news. On November 30, Kaavan, dubbed the “loneliest elephant” arrived from Islamabad to Cambodia to start a new life.

3y ago

Efficacy of the home-made mask

The recent back-and-forth debate over the use of face masks to prevent the spread of covid-19 has settled. In the beginning, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that there was no need for people who are well to wear face masks.

4y ago

The moral rot that threatens Bangladesh

No two countries that share borders are more different from each other than Mexico and the United States. The contrast between the quality of life in these two countries could not be starker.

5y ago

The value of writing letters in a digital society

Social media, texting and emailing have revolutionised the way we communicate. These technologies have enabled us to be more efficient and stay in touch more easily. But they have also altered the dynamics of some of our most important relationships.

5y ago

The changing nature of work

Most of us have serious reasons to worry about the future of work. The development of automation powered by robotics and Artificial Intelligence has enabled higher productivity, increased efficiency, safety, and convenience. At the same time, these technologies pose difficult questions about the larger impact of automation on jobs and wages. But perhaps we need to pay attention to another aspect of work: how we look at work is changing as well.

5y ago

How volunteering can help the youth

Each year, more than one billion people are engaged in volunteering worldwide. Their actions have economic, private and social values. You may wonder how helping others has economic value when no monetary transaction is involved.

5y ago
February 23, 2019
February 23, 2019

A failure of imagination

Mohsin Hamid's masterpiece “Exit West” is a sobering reminder of the decisive human failure that we conveniently call “the refugee crisis.” Published in 2017, the novel is making waves in North America and Europe,

February 8, 2019
February 8, 2019

The Power of Love

Valerie Taylor refuses to accept despair as the final outcome of the ambiguities of life. She proves that nothing makes one incapable of reaching up for the possibilities that confront him or her.

January 31, 2019
January 31, 2019

A better life for women

The book “Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism” (2018)—as provocative as it sounds— has nothing to do with women's carnal pleasures.

December 10, 2018
December 10, 2018

Inequality and our mistaken modernity

We derive our swagger from the pervasive inequality in our society. There is inequality even among the pets we keep. There are mainly two kinds of dogs in this country.

December 3, 2018
December 3, 2018

What drives missions to Mars?

On Monday, November 26, NASA landed spacecraft InSight on Mars, after a long and difficult voyage—more than 300 million miles over six months.

May 4, 2018
May 4, 2018

Power to the powerless

The general attitude toward journalists is perhaps summed by what Norman Mailer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer, expressed many years ago, “If a person is not talented enough to be a novelist, not smart enough to be a lawyer, and his hands are too shaky to perform operations, he becomes a journalist.”

April 14, 2018
April 14, 2018

The slow death of democracies

Lately, democratic erosion in many countries has been less dramatic and more deceptive. There are no tanks in the streets. A formal or

February 14, 2018
February 14, 2018

A case for more tea shops

When we look at someone like Mozart who shows his unusual gift at an early age, we think that it must be genetic. But studies show that genetics is a relatively small piece of the genius puzzle. Geniuses are neither born nor made. They are grown, according to Eric Weiner, author of the bestselling book The Geography of Genius (2016).

December 28, 2017
December 28, 2017

The power paradox

The Machiavellian thesis that power is about force, intimidation and violence no longer passes muster. Instead, through social practices that promote the interests of others such as empathy, equality, collaboration, open mindedness and generosity, we acquire power.

December 5, 2017
December 5, 2017

Taking activism beyond social media

As the world marks the centenary of the October Revolution, it is apt to study online movements and their offline results. The day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, an estimated 3.5 million people in cities around the US...