The Agniveer passing out parade was as much about family celebration as it was a military event. Alongside the pomp, pageantry and discipline of the parade were the personal stories of families, their struggles and how far they had come.
'There have been equal or more casualties on the Chinese side.' 'Our soldiers are hardy and strong and far superior than the Chinese.'
'Conrad Sangma is an interesting mix of charisma, ability and has emerged as a capable leader.' 'Neiphiu Rio is very unassuming, quiet, subtle and stands out among all Naga leaders today.'
'The tally of Muslim MLAs has increased. They know they can make themselves count in the electoral system.'
'The senior army leadership has no interest in reconciling with Imran Khan, and no interest in seeing him return to power.'
'Hatred increases with every killing.' 'It sets one family against another.' 'The sooner it is stopped, the better.'
Hriiyio was only 6 months old when his father, a soldier in the 1 Naga Battalion met a warrior's death in Drass.
Shut for nearly a year due to the pandemic, schools reopened in Bihar on March 1. Rediff.com's Archana Masih spoke to 10-11 year olds about their year away from school and what it feels like to be back.
'The fact that he hasn't resigned so far shows that he is going to do everything to hold onto power.'
The village in Maharashtra has continuously sent soldiers to the Army since World War I. Every other person you meet is a soldier or a retired soldier or is aspiring to be a soldier.
'The BJP's real weapons are Hindutva, organisation and finance.'
Captain Shiva Chouhan is the first woman army officer to be deployed at 15,632 feet in the Siachen Glacier. 'It has been a memorable journey,' says the 25-year-old who has gone where no women officer has gone before.
'...despite not being ideologically aligned with a vast section of the people of the north east.' 'But the results in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya show that no party, including the BJP, can say that it has really done well.'
'Mr Badal wanted to talk to a member of the Gandhi family to bring about some sort of rapprochement between the Akalis and the Congress which were the two major parties at that time.'
'Since the rotors of a helicopter rotate at very high RPMs, if they hit an obstacle -- for example a tree, wire or pole, the result is catastrophic.'
Pilots and crew of the Indian Air Force fought a valiant battle against Nature to save thousands of lives in Uttarakhand's treacherous valleys, scripting India's greatest rescue operation. Archana Masih reports from the IAF station in Barrackore.
'For the first time since I've been following Indian politics, one heard voters talking about India's role on the world stage and the fact that, due to Modi's leadership, India was once again a great power.'
'The economic crisis hit us from nowhere. No one saw it coming.'
'There is only one common feature between Gorbachev and Putin.' 'They are both patriots, and both try to save Russia and make it great.' 'But in very, very, different ways.'
'I want to ask Giriraj Singh why should we go to Pakistan when we are natives of Hindustan? 'This is Modi's only chance to wipe out his past...' 'This election has been reduced to only one issue -- communalism...' On the turf of the Modi versus Lalu battleground, Archana Masih/Rediff.com listens to what young Muslims think of Narendra Modi.
'I want to ask Giriraj Singh why should we go to Pakistan when we are natives of Hindustan? 'This is Modi's only chance to wipe out his past...' 'This election has been reduced to only one issue -- communalism...' On the turf of the Modi versus Lalu battleground, Archana Masih/Rediff.com listens to what young Muslims think of Narendra Modi.
'All hydropower projects in the Himalayan region must be stopped.' 'Joshimath is not alone.'
Monday is the last day of campaigning in Gandaman where 23 children died after eating a school meal, but no leader has found time to campaign among the villagers. Archana Masih/Rediff.com returns to the lonely village in Bihar.
Under a blazing sun, Narendra Modi attacks the Ma-Beta and Lalu Yadav; invokes his tea boy's journey; and asks the youth for a mauka... A stolen mobile, a man who faints, women fleeing the bamboo enclosure to save themselves from being crushed by men -- and a government employee who flouts rules to attend a poll rally because she's a fan of Modi. Archana Masih/Rediff.com reports from Narendra Modi's first-ever rally in Chhapra, Bihar.
Five months after 23 children died from eating poison-laced school lunch, the tragedy has resulted in a new school, creche, health centre, roads and electricity. The long forgotten village is finally being turned into a model village, but the grief of its loss is far from over. Archana Masih reports from Dharmasati Gandaman, Bihar.
'China doesn't want to settle the boundary dispute because that gives them a reason to pick a fight with India.'
AAP candidate Shazia Ilmi fires from all cylinders at a campaign meeting in Ghaziabad.
'Human society is a conflict-prone society... You cannot have complete peace of the graveyard... Switzerland had 500 years of peace and what did they produce? The Cuckoo Clock... Italy had always been in turmoil and they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance.' Meghalaya Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, a former head of the BSF and NSG, in a rare and candid interview with Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
'On the LAC, China can undertake military action at any place with much fewer resources. It can do 'salami slicing'.'
'His image may have gone down a little because he is talking about poverty and underdeveloped states. That is not the way to sell yourself nationally,' Bihar's best known economist and social scientist Dr Shaibal Gupta tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
A young girl wants to correct her father's name in her school certificate; a man wants his three year unpaid rent from a government doctor, an athlete wants an archery set... Scenes from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Darbar, recorded by Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
'English has become the most aspirational language for India's poor and disadvantaged. Anyone who has any desire to improve their prospects and wants upward mobility, the first thing they do is try to learn English.' Zareer Masani explains Thomas Macaulay's legacy in India.
'... that they should listen to people of the soil of the North East and find a permanent solution to tribal problems.'
Meghalaya is a land of political contradictions. One of the most peaceful states in the North-East, only one chief minister has had a full term in office in Meghalaya's 41-year history. Meghalaya is a woman-dominated traditional society, but the outgoing assembly had only one lady MLA!Rediff.com's Archana Masih reports from Shillong on the election in arguably India's most politically unstable state.
'The Modi visit will prove to be the watershed where India and the United States commenced technology trade and transfer.'
The Maha Kumbh, considered to be the largest religious gathering on earth, will begin at the Sangam in Allahabad from January 14. Photographer Rajesh Karkera and Archana Masih capture the scenes from the ghat in the run-up to the religious festival that is the pinnacle of many spiritual dreams.
'It shows the signs of a weak government to avoid the heat from Afzal Guru that they carried out Ajmal Kasab's hanging in secrecy,' says IPS officer-turned-activist Y P Singh.
The Ashokan Pillar in Kolhua, Bihar, is one of India's best maintained historical sites.
The small, sweet village of Mawlynnong is not only beautifully clean, but has a character that will win your heart.
No, they are not politicians, bureaucrats or film stars, but a group of young singers who can stir the rusted chords of your soul with the power of their voice. Ladies and gentlemen... the Shillong Chamber Choir...
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