IF I WERE TO CALL MY MOTHER, Mrs Mathew—or Mrs K.M. Mathew, as she was popularly known—I wonder what would have happened. She would not have liked it at all, I can guarantee. Most of all, I would not have liked it at all.
In her new book, Mother Mary Comes To Me, Arundhati Roy often refers to her mother as Mrs Roy. And once I read Special Correspondent Anjuly Mathai’s cover story, I think I understand her choice of name. Arundhati writes: “As a child, I loved her irrationally, helplessly, fearfully, completely, as children do. As an adult, I tried to love her coolly, rationally, and from a safe distance. I often failed. Sometimes miserably.” Understanding Mary Roy is central to understanding Arundhati, writes Anjuly. Hence, this cover.
Despite both of us hailing from Kottayam, I don’t think I have met Arundhati there. My first memory of her is meeting her in Delhi with her ex-husband and my classmate, Pradip Krishen. In addition to being gifted in various fields, he was a skilled tennis player who played for St Stephen’s College.
On the political front, Correspondent Badar Bashir looks at opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s rally across Bihar and the messaging that has brought the opposition parties together in the state ahead of the assembly polls.
In an interview, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh told Senior Special Correspondent Kanu Sarda and Principal Correspondent Abhinav Singh that India plans to have its own space station within 10 years. The minister elaborates on what that means for us.
Senior Assistant News Editor Maijo Abraham writes about the philanthropic journey of Kumari and S.D. Shibulal through the Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives. The co-founder of Infosys and his wife truly believe that “education is the only transformative power”. I couldn’t agree more.
Senior Special Correspondent Nachiket Kelkar looks at two developments: the ban on real-money gaming apps and the crises in India’s cooperative banking sector. I keep reading about the unfortunate things that people have done after being mired in real-money gaming apps. We rarely hear about the dark side until it makes it to the evening news. In many ways, the digital world has been a double-edged sword. Especially so for parents, I feel.
The cooperative banking sector has been hit with multiple scandals. Nachiket writes that the RBI has cancelled licences of 78 banks since 2014. It is unfortunate that such an essential sector in the cooperative movement is being perceived as unreliable.
Let me end with a snippet of joy from Ukraine. Dr Mridula Ghosh, academic and THE WEEK’s columnist from Ukraine, was awarded the Order of Merit on August 24, Ukraine’s independence day. She received the medal from President Volodymyr Zelensky at a ceremony in St Sophia Square, Kyiv.
Ghosh is board chair of the East European Development Institute and associate professor of international relations at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. In addition to her columns, Mridula’s support was crucial to THE WEEK’s cover story on Ukraine, done by Photo Editor Bhanu Prakash Chandra in August 2023.
The Order of Merit honours individuals for outstanding achievements in economics, science, culture and politics. It is also bestowed on members of Ukraine’s uniformed services.
Congratulations again, Mridula.