Where were you on 27 February 2002 as India witnessed one of its bloodiest Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat over three days prompted by the burning of a train in Godhra? Twenty years since the Gujarat riots which led to at least a thousand deaths, there are still many questions and elusive answers about how a large-scale massacre could take place over…

RK Laxman, the legendary cartoonist spoke through his cartoons, about the concerns of The Common Man — a character that featured for almost half a century in The Times Of India's daily cartoon strip, You Said It. Laxman's bald, bespectacled, and dhoti-clad Common Man was part of every frame as either a spectator or a subject. And, the way Laxman wr…

It's been 20 years since Karan Johar's cult-classic 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' (or K3G as it's popularly known), captured our attention with a dazzling star-cast, extravagant sets and glitzy fashion. We may find the KJo brand of films as far off from reality as it can be, yet can we honestly stop humming to 'Suraj Huya Madhyam' or forget the moment…

Two years have passed since the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in the parliament. In these two years, those who have protested against the act, have also faced repercussions in the form of arrests and detentions. Yet, the government has not written and rules implementing CAA. What is it that probably has resulted in this delay? …

How a film that was rejected by two lead actors and its director, went on to become a success? Why did the film's director, Milan Luthria had to initially stop shooting after having worked for four days with Vidya Balan? Is the film addressing the male gaze or providing for it? Tune in as Milan Luthria and Emraan Hashmi revisit the making of The Di…

PM Modi's supporters were quick to call the announcement banning the 500 and 1000 notes as his 'master-stroke' to tackle the black money, corruption, fake notes and terrorism. The stroke however killed more jobs than the black money. So, was the government able to cleanse the economy of the black money? Has there been any economic progress that cou…

Jayprakash Narayan aka 'Doosra Gandhi' or the second Gandhi, is often held responsible for providing legitimacy to RSS and Jana Sangh. But some say that it's wrong to focus on something as important as this, without its historical context. Then how should we view JP's statement, 'If the RSS is fascist, so am I'? Is it because this endorsement has a…

The law against Triple Talaq or The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, was passed two years ago amid protests from the opposition who blamed the government for targetting only the Muslim community. On 30th July 2019, this law was passed in the parliament with 99 votes in its favor. Giving triple talaq would be a non-bailable…

Uphaar Cinema fire is a reminder of how the tragedy was a man-made disaster that killed 59 people - the youngest of them was just a month old. The fire from the tragedy that struck 24 years ago, still rages on in the hearts of those parents who lost their children on 13th June 1997. Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy lost both their children - Unnat…

12 March 2020. India saw its first COVID-19 death after a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi succumbed to the virus. More than a year later, the country has recorded over 3 lakh deaths even as a more devastating second wave of the pandemic rages on. But who is to blame? How do we understand the scale of the damage in numbers? And is it even possible t…

Facing West Indies - the two-time world champions, in the world cup, and breaking them in their third was far-fetched before the great match of 83. How Balwinder Sandhu clean bowled Gordon Greenidge and Kapil Dev's iconic catch to send Vivian Richards out, the match was nothing less than a miracle India wasn't expecting. How India turned it around …

More than two decades ago, Amitabh Bachchan made his debut on the small screen only to become the most successful host in the history of Indian television. The show, ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ not only brought the great actor closer to his fans but also changed the way people watched TV. But, what was it like to recreate an internationally successful …

On the night of 2nd December 1984, tonnes of poisonous gas leaked from a factory that made pesticides. It not only killed thousands of people but continues to affect a larger part of Bhopal's population. Leela Bai, who was just a 26-year-old mother of five at the time when the disaster happened, lost her son that night. She later lost another son d…

Ayodhya, a small temple town in Uttar Pradesh is loaded with medieval history and Hindu mythology. There have been little skirmishes here and there but nothing big enough to be a national issue until the events in the run up to the sixth of December 1992 and the demolition of the Babri masjid mosque that set India in a different political course al…

Around 157 years after Section 377 of the IPC, a law that criminalised homosexual acts between consenting adults, was introduced in British India, its discrimnating parts were finally struck down in the Supreme Court on 6 September 2018. It’s been a year since that historic judgment was passed and in this episode of Where Were You When, four member…

'Burial binds you to the place', tells oral historian Aanchal Malhotra while narrating a story from the Partition. For more stories of the people who chose to stay back in India, listen to this special episode of Where Were You When.بقلم Where Were You When

Nikhil Advani’s action thriller starring John Abraham — Batla House which is inspired by the real events from Operation Batla House is releasing on 15 August. It’s been 11 years since the encounter but many questions still remain unanswered. On 13 September, 2008 five bombs exploded in various parts of Delhi between 6-6:30 pm. Indian Mujahideen a t…

India is celebrating its 70th Republic Day on 26 January 1950, but where were you when India celebrated its very first Republic Day in 1950? For the fourth episode of this podcast series, we spoke to four senior citizens to relive their memories of India's first Republic day when the Constitution had come into effect making India a fully functional…

Podcast | Where were you when the VP Singh's decision to provide 27% reservation for OBCs led to violent protests and self-immolations in 1990? Tune in to this podcast!بقلم Where Were You When

A fighter pilot and a war veteran, Air Commodore (retd.) Ravish Malhotra nearly became the first Indian in space. But fate, rather the authorities in Delhi where Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister, had other plans. Ravish Malhotra was picked as the two finalists who trained in USSR for India’s first mission to space. Listen to his story on how he tra…

The veteran journalist passed away on 23 August 2018. Around a year earlier, The Quint had interviewed Kuldip Nayar on his arrest during the 1975 Emergency.بقلم Where Were You When