1 MARCH 2021 / `50 www.openthemagazine.com CONTENTS 1 MARCH 2021 5 6 8 14 LOCOMOTIF INDRAPRASTHA MUMBAI NOTEBOOK SOFT POWER The toolkit of dissent By Virendra Kapoor By Anil Dharker The rites of pilgrimage By S Prasannarajan By Makarand R Paranjape 16 18 20 22 OPINION THE RACHEL PAPERS WHISPERER OPEN ESSAY Fixing the narrative Magic mountains By Jayanta Ghosal The great betrayal By Minhaz Merchant Rachel Dwyer By Abdul Ghaffar Khan 30 30 MODI IN THE MARKETPLACE When Narendra Modi defended the private sector in Parliament, it signalled India’s readiness to embrace its wealth creators By PR Ramesh and Siddharth Singh 40 ACROSS THE FENCE Tunnels and drones from Pakistan along the international border in Jammu pose a new challenge to India’s security By Rahul Pandita 40 22 46 THE SURPRISE SUCCESSOR? BY Vijayendra, BS Yediyurappa’s son and the architect of unlikely bypoll victories, bides his time By V Shoba 46 50 OLD MONEY How Covid-19 changes are pushing businesses to target a largely ignored demography of the elderly By Lhendup G Bhutia 54 58 54 58 64 66 THE ARC OF LIVING THE TAMIL WAVE A MOVEABLE FEAST STARGAZER The natural Today tamil indie films can be The spice route By Kaveree Bamzai experimentations recognised for their diversity By Shylashri Shankar of Bhuri Bai both in content and treatment By Rosalyn D’Mello By Namrata Joshi Cover by Saurabh Singh 1 MARCH 2021 www.openthemagazine.com 3 OPEN MAIL
[email protected] EDITOR S Prasannarajan LETTER OF THE WEEK MANAGING EDITOR PR Ramesh C EXECUTIVE EDITOR Ullekh NP In the popular Indian imagination post-1857, EDITOR-AT-LARGE Siddharth Singh DEPUTY EDITORS Madhavankutty Pillai violence and non-violence have come to be seen (Mumbai Bureau Chief), as contradictory strategies of resistance (‘The Last Rahul Pandita, Amita Shah, V Shoba (Bangalore), Nandini Nair Mutiny’ by Pramod Kapoor, February 22nd, 2021).