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July 12, 2026
Vijay? No better ideas?
Sadly, our military seems to be losing the poetic touch. Look at how we are code naming ops and projects these days
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July 05, 2026
Citizen vigilantes
Most countries don’t have citizenship cards, but then they don’t ask their people to prove their citizenship as frequently as we do
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June 28, 2026
A centennial gift for the naked dancer
A few fig-leafed pedagogues have sought to clothe the four millennia-old dancing girl of Mohenjo-daro. A few textbook writers of NCERT, who thought her nakedness a national shame, made an attempt to mask her nakedness to the satvik class nine schoolboys and girls of Bharat varsha
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June 21, 2026
Moscow’s Kabuliwala
Russia has strategically re-engaged with Afghanistan, appointing Zamir Kabulov, an envoy with deep expertise in the region, as its special representative
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June 14, 2026
The elephant in the cabinet room
Having managed the Karnataka transition well, the Congress has fouled up the aftermath
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June 11, 2026
Hit him in the rear – a masterstroke at Inchon
Frontal assault can often be foolhardy. In battle, the idea is not to display chivalry but to ensure victory using tact. And strategies of indirect approach suit the objective better. In this 23rd instalment of ‘Tactics & Tacticians’, we look at how Gen. Douglas MacArthur made a bold landing in the enemy’s rear at Inchon in Korea
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June 07, 2026
Rain, rain, stay here
Monsoon rains are produced by an interplay of In dra, Varuna and Surya
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June 04, 2026
Forts and walls don’t protect you; vigilant sentries do
Fortifications create a false illusion of security, wrote Alistaire Horne, one of Europe’s finest war historians. Throughout history, rulers have erected castles, forts, fences and walls to safeguard their manors, fiefs, kingdoms and empires. But they have all been breached when the sentries left, slept or were compromised. In this 22nd instalment of ‘Tactics & Tacticians’, we look at how some of the supposedly impregnable fortifications were easily breached
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May 31, 2026
Cockroaches in their stomachs
Looks like we may have a national insect soon. I was betting on the ubiquitous mosquito that sings us to sleep, or the housefly with which we share our sweetmeats, but the cockroach is scurrying ahead
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May 28, 2026
Shots on the roof that persuaded a surrender
At times, unnerving the enemy with minimal force yields better results than killing him with massive force. Not only does it get you general goodwill, but also allows you to claim a clean victory. In this 21st instalment of 'Tactics and Tacticians', we look at how a neat surgical air strike on Dacca yielded India a clean victory in the 1971 war
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May 26, 2026
Thucydides Trap and the claptrap
Xi Jinping invoked Thucydides, a fifth century BC Athenian naval commander and historian, whose account of the Peloponnesian War led to the theory that when a rising power seeks parity with an established power, it could lead to war
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May 17, 2026
Letters for post: Vajpayee to Vijay
Vijay lacks the versifying talents of Vajpayee, but is blessed with a filmy charisma that should stand him in good stead
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May 14, 2026
Battle of Assaye: Where Wellesley found two villages and a way
A smart strategist is also a sharp-eyed quartermaster. Arthur Wellesley was one such. In this 19th episode of ‘Tactics and Tacticians’ on the Battle of Assaye, we find out how his sharp eye found a crossing point in a flooded river which no one knew about.
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May 10, 2026
Connecticut Yankees & Charles’s speech
Kingship may survive centuries, but would the idea of liberty?
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May 07, 2026
The unsettled affair of Sivaji’s claws
How would you describe the slaying of the Bijapur nobleman Afzal Khan by Sivaji? A battle? An assassination? A clever stratagem? In this 15th edition of ‘Tactics and Tacticians’, we examine the lesser-discussed battle doctrines that were relied on by both adversaries.
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May 07, 2026
Ride light and shoot straight: The Battle of Agincourt and the underdog's triumph
Ease of use is what matters in battle more than the technological quality of the weapon. Simple weapons have often prevailed over complex systems because they are user-friendly. In this 18th instalment of 'Tactics & Tacticians', we examine how the simpler English peasant-warrior’s longbow beat the advanced French crossbow in the Battle of Agincourt.
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May 04, 2026
A requiem for AAP
Where it went fundamentally wrong was that it missed the two I-s, one of which every party needs—ideology or identity
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April 30, 2026
Light as straw, on camelback: The tactical mastery of Nadir Shah's invasion
Very often, it is not the most powerful or sophisticated weapons that win battles, but smaller and less advanced ones. Put differently, it is not the size or superiority of a weapon that matters more; what matters is how the weapon is used. Military history offers several examples of this. In the 17th instalment of ‘Tactics & Tacticians’, let us examine one such example from the Indian history.
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April 25, 2026
Ladies’ seats? Why not from 543?
What tax-paying mortals would like to know are: with about three million elected men and women strutting around from panchayats to the presidential house enjoying pay, perks and pensions, do we need more or fewer netas?
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April 23, 2026
Alexander of Macedon's masterstroke: A little trick, and an empire falls
In the 16th instalment of ‘Tactics & Tactitians’, we examine the tactic Alexander of Macedon employed in his greatest battle
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April 18, 2026
Keep kids away; prez’s speaking
Nice people in America would cringe if they read the presidential lips these days. More so if kids are around
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April 16, 2026
'Between Tehran and Tel Aviv' book review: The Gaza catalyst in the West Asian crisis
Originally intended to focus on Palestine, the book ends up being currently relevant by tracing the seeds of the Israel/US-Iran conflict to the killing fields of Gaza
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April 11, 2026
Get me an enemy of my stature
If the BJP claims India is growing because of Modi, Stalin is talking of how Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Karnataka are growing despite Modi
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April 09, 2026
Washington’s many ferries to victory
Armies never use the same tactics twice against an enemy who is likely to anticipate them. In this 14th instalment of ‘Tactics & Tacticians’, we will look at how George Washington defied this maxim of common sense and scored victories
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April 04, 2026
God save the archbishop
For an old institution, the Church of England has been fairly open to reforms, especially in the post-war era, ordaining women as priests, recognising gay and lesbian rights, and now getting a woman archbishop
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