Articles by Ashwin Mahesh

In most democracies around the world, citizens have forgotten that there was once a time when their governments did not exist. At such times, other citizens - much like themselves - banded together to create governments in their own imagination. They debated what their countries should look like, framed Constitutions and laws, and put together various kinds of Republics in which we live now. 'Creating' government is taught in our history books like a one-time event, but in fact it is something that needs constant renewal. Of course it is not sensible to re-imagine everything every year, and some things…

In most democracies around the world, citizens have forgotten that there was once a time when their governments did not exist. At such times, other citizens - much like themselves - banded together to create governments in their own imagination. They debated what their countries should look like, framed Constitutions and laws, and put together various kinds of Republics in which we live now. 'Creating' government is taught in our history books like a one-time event, but in fact it is something that needs constant renewal. Of course it is not sensible to re-imagine everything every year, and some things…

18 corporators of BBMP became members of the first Metropolitan Planning Committee of the Bangalore region. This is an important and hard-won step forward in getting a proper planning body for the city. There are many drawbacks in the way the MPC has been constituted, but at least we have an institution that is supposed to do the planning now. Making it work effectively is another ballgame altogether, and we must work with the State government to properly devolve powers to this body and give it some real teeth to fix the city. Around the country, only a few MPCs…

18 corporators of BBMP became members of the first Metropolitan Planning Committee of the Bangalore region. This is an important and hard-won step forward in getting a proper planning body for the city. There are many drawbacks in the way the MPC has been constituted, but at least we have an institution that is supposed to do the planning now. Making it work effectively is another ballgame altogether, and we must work with the State government to properly devolve powers to this body and give it some real teeth to fix the city. Around the country, only a few MPCs…

I was at T John College on Saturday, speaking to students of media and journalism from different institutions, who were attending a seminar at the college. A lot of the young men and women in these colleges are quite hopeful of making an impact through their work, and helping to build a better society and country through their roles as watchdogs and reporters. But they are also running into a delusion. By their own admission, media is not a well-liked profession. The public has a dim view of what the media does, and thinks that a lot of it is…

I was at T John College on Saturday, speaking to students of media and journalism from different institutions, who were attending a seminar at the college. A lot of the young men and women in these colleges are quite hopeful of making an impact through their work, and helping to build a better society and country through their roles as watchdogs and reporters. But they are also running into a delusion. By their own admission, media is not a well-liked profession. The public has a dim view of what the media does, and thinks that a lot of it is…

If you ask people about their local RWA or apartment association, they'll tell you a lot of uncharitable things. Words like 'bickering,' 'clueless,' 'no communication' etc. will dominate the response. And if you stop to think about it, you'll realise that there are a lot of parallels between this and how they think about politics and governance of the country itself. What's going on? First, solving public problems isn't the responsibility of a few people. For legal and practical reasons we have formed these things - RWAs, industry associations, religious trusts, ward committees, city councils, state legislatures, parliament - but…

If you ask people about their local RWA or apartment association, they'll tell you a lot of uncharitable things. Words like 'bickering,' 'clueless,' 'no communication' etc. will dominate the response. And if you stop to think about it, you'll realise that there are a lot of parallels between this and how they think about politics and governance of the country itself. What's going on? First, solving public problems isn't the responsibility of a few people. For legal and practical reasons we have formed these things - RWAs, industry associations, religious trusts, ward committees, city councils, state legislatures, parliament - but…

How do we build a society? The routine passage of time, and politics, makes us think that the primary post-independence goal should be to build the country. Yes and no. The nation provides a rallying point for 'us' to think about where 'we' want to be. But underlying that intent, there has to be an idea of what kind of society we want to build. Ultimately, the country's prospects will depend almost entirely on that. This is a daily, continuous question. Hoisting flags on Independence Day should ideally be a kind of milestone in that passage, not a continuous promise…

How do we build a society? The routine passage of time, and politics, makes us think that the primary post-independence goal should be to build the country. Yes and no. The nation provides a rallying point for 'us' to think about where 'we' want to be. But underlying that intent, there has to be an idea of what kind of society we want to build. Ultimately, the country's prospects will depend almost entirely on that. This is a daily, continuous question. Hoisting flags on Independence Day should ideally be a kind of milestone in that passage, not a continuous promise…