Nishtha Gautam
Nishtha Gautam is a Delhi-based author and academic
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Opinion | Asim Munir, And Why Trump Must Be A Little Careful With Flatterers
Trump's assessment of the US-Pakistan relations in his first presidential term was that of a parasitic arrangement. The volte-face in the current term has many reasons, the most important being Trump's proclivity for unabashed flatterers.
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Opinion | Trump, Tughlaq, Tariffs: The Dangers Of Strength Without Sense
Like Trump, Tughlaq was often described as an erratic ruler with no shortage of ambition but a chronic inability to foresee the consequences. That's their paradox: strength without strategy, vision without realism.
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Opinion | China, Now Trump: Pakistan And The Art Of Somehow Finding Patrons
Pakistan has successfully lobbied Western capitals into believing in its indispensability in the regional strategic landscape. The US continues to buy this narrative for various reasons, not discounting the naivete among them.
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Opinion | How Many Dead Babies Does A War Need?
Given New Delhi's historical support for Palestine, its supposed 'neutrality' today in the face of death, starvation, and genocide, citing a strategic relationship with Israel, is incongruous.
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Opinion | India's Classroom Crisis: Why Your Teacher Is So Clueless About Everything
I've spent the past month in my ancestral village, setting up a dream project. What I've encountered here, once again, is a paradoxical crisis - an education system so hollowed out that hope and despair now coexist in equal measure.
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Opinion | Of Prada, Dior, And Manufactured Meanings Of Luxury
Let's not waste breath or bites any further on Prada and Dior 'stealing' from the Indian artisanal traditions: the Kolhapuri footwear and the Muqaish embroidery.
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Opinion | Who Wants Peace, Anyway? On War And The People Who Fuel It
The war industry cannibalises all others, and there's no shortage of hypocrisy in today's global security discourse. Powerful states lament instability while fuelling it through arms sales and proxy wars.
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Opinion | How Zohran Mamdani Has Given Indian-Americans An Identity Crisis
Suddenly, many Indians' urge to claim anyone even remotely Indian in terms of their genetic makeup for achieving anything on the global stage has turned into outright hate.
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Opinion | Whose Friend Is The US Anyway?
As of 2025, many countries, big and small, view the US less as a protector and more like an unreliable patron - slow to act if at all, unsure of its commitments, often causing embarrassment, and vulnerable to distraction.
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Opinion | Iran, Israel, And The Ghosts Of A Relationship Gone Bad
In a twisted way, Iran still seems to be helping Israel. In furthering Israel's narrative of being the victim. Iran, in turn, stands as isolated today as its arch enemy Iraq once was.
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Opinion | Is This How India Will 'Dehyphenate' Itself From Pakistan?
Rather than setting the paradigm, India is seen as playing catch-up in its diplomatic oeuvre.
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Opinion | Musk-Trump Saga is Not A Biblical Or Pop Culture Event. It's Dangerous
If the James Bond movies are to be trusted, your most vicious enemy happens to be a jilted lover or a close accomplice.
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Opinion | Op Sindoor, India-Pak, And What Sahir Or Faiz Can Tell Us About Wars
When we forget about the wounds of war, we don't think twice before waging one. The poems of Kishwar Naheed, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, and many more offer a jolt to such public amnesia.
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Opinion | What Quick (De)Escalation Between India-Pak Teaches Us About War And Peace
The wanton public wants war one moment and peace the next. The state ought to eschew the urge to base its decisions on this wantonness.
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Opinion | Ground Zero, Pahalgam, And A Conundrum Of Pain In Kashmir
If Ground Zero succeeds in making even a single member of the audience revisit their presumptions and prejudices, as one of the characters does before the climax, it should be deemed a hit, despite the box office verdict.
