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Abhishek Asthana

Abhishek Asthana

Articles by Abhishek Asthana

The university-brand trap, for students & institutions

The age-old desire of students is to study at a place known to their relatives. (HT Archive)

Published on Feb 28, 2026 09:46 pm IST

Seeing places anew, as a traveller of means

Paris will look and feel very different when you don’t faint buying bottled water, and can afford a taxi and don’t have to drag your luggage to the subway. (AFP)

Published on Feb 07, 2026 10:57 pm IST

Adjusting to Delhi-NCR pollution, with a smile

Though the pollution issue has been raised prior to quite a few elections now, our politicians have realised it isn’t a deal breaker for the voting populace. (ANI)

Published on Jan 18, 2026 12:09 am IST

A New Year resolution: Eschew comparisons

Much of the fear of missing out (FOMO) is induced by social media. (AFP)

Published on Jan 03, 2026 09:40 pm IST

Internet Dhurandhars and the battle of opinions

fter the state elections, the latest bone of contention is Dhurandhar. (Getty Images)

Published on Dec 13, 2025 09:39 pm IST

Songs as time machines and bookmarks of memory

Purvanchal’s migrants carry the music of 1990s with them to this day. (HT Archive)

Published on Nov 22, 2025 10:19 pm IST

What matters most at Indian weddings

Attending a wedding is like time travel. You meet relatives who held you in their arms and cousins you grew up with. (HT Photo)

Published on Nov 08, 2025 10:07 pm IST

The Bihar narrative, between the decades

We did the best job in the country of preserving the British Raj. (Shutterstock)

Published on Oct 18, 2025 09:56 pm IST

Why the NRI doesn’t do much for India

Of the 1.5 million jobs created in the US annually, H-1B accounts for 60,000 (Shutterstock)

Published on Sept 27, 2025 09:08 pm IST

Is the smartphone, as we know it, set to disappear?

A smartphone is like a screwdriver now. It’s done. Anything more is an overkill. (REUTERS)

Published on Sept 13, 2025 08:56 pm IST

How the corporate life spawns entrepreneurs

Workplace friendships are fleeting; they depend a lot on common misery. (HT Photo)

Published on Aug 23, 2025 08:51 pm IST

What elevator use says about the Indian psyche

Nobody teaches lift etiquettes, though; it’s like an email sign-off you copy from others. How you behave in the lift is learnt the hard way. (Shutterstock)

Updated on Aug 02, 2025 10:12 pm IST

Changing nature of neighbourly bonds

Earlier, neighbourly love was fuelled by scarcity - from power outages to sugar. There is no scarcity now. Each high rise is self-sufficient. (HT Photo)

Published on Jul 19, 2025 11:30 pm IST

Credit, and contempt, for the paths to quick riches

The academic path to wealth is the most common — the one that generates the least wealth at a young age and yet expects 70 hours of work a week. (Shutterstock)

Published on Jul 05, 2025 06:52 pm IST

Spotting Purvanchal of 1800s in the Caribbean

Cricketer Nicholas Pooran, on being asked if he wishes to some day return to his ancestral land to search for his roots, didn’t seem very interested. (AFP)

Published on Jun 21, 2025 06:31 pm IST

One-way ticket to that lonesome town

All the songs on the road are of despair, maybe a way for the driver to express job dissatisfaction (HT Photo)

Updated on Jun 07, 2025 06:44 pm IST

Pakistan’s delusion drip must stop for its own sake

Pakistan needs to confront its past, and be comfortable with it (REUTERS)

Updated on May 24, 2025 07:27 pm IST

Costs of a semi-war, and keeping hope

There is another carnival during the time of war called TV news (PTI)

Published on May 09, 2025 11:22 pm IST

Across the border: An army’s rising desperation

Dealing with such a force is tricky for a democracy (Hindustan Times)

Updated on Apr 26, 2025 08:47 pm IST

The quintessential Indian, value-maximising parent

For parents, a child is always a 10-year old. He may be a skilled engineer or a doctor, but is still a child when it comes to managing money (stock.adobe.com)

Published on Apr 12, 2025 09:07 pm IST

Bringing up innovators, inventors and scientists

You need to build enough corpus so that your children can spend more years in college and happily “opt-out” of final placements to be the inventors and creators they need to be (Bloomberg)

Updated on Mar 29, 2025 08:14 pm IST

A bookmark for your memory called cricket

The goal is to win so much that there comes a time when there is emptiness in victories (ANI Photo)

Published on Mar 15, 2025 07:05 pm IST

Learning linear algebra, courtesy the local salon

Even when you are old enough to earn your bread and pay for your haircut, the childhood trauma ensures you don’t really know how to brief the hairdresser (REUTERS)

Published on Mar 01, 2025 07:15 pm IST

The changing tracks of romance of trains

Ludhiana, India – October 03, 2019: New Delhi - Sri Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express train passing from Ludhiana, towards Katra, during its inaugural run on Thursday, October 03, 2019. (Photo by Gurpreet Singh/Hindustan Times)

Published on Feb 15, 2025 08:06 pm IST

Absent in the “work 90 hours a week” debate

The Factories Act, and various Shops and Establishment Acts, limit weekly hours to 48. An ILO study says Indians work 47.7 hours on average every week (Shutterstock)

Published on Jan 18, 2025 08:15 pm IST

Christmas in London, seen with Indian eyes

Shoppers walk along Oxford Street during traditional Boxing Day holiday sales, in London, UK, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. Photographer: Carlos Jasso/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)

Updated on Jan 04, 2025 08:27 pm IST

Intolerable cruelty of sporting careers

New Delhi, Dec 18 (ANI): (File Photo) Cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin announces his retirement from international cricket, on Wednesday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

Updated on Dec 21, 2024 07:56 pm IST

Why does it take so long to gain wings?

New Delhi, India - August 29, 2024: Students at Miranda House as the new session begins from today at North Campus in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, August 29, 2024. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Updated on Dec 07, 2024 08:08 pm IST

Pain in the present, future will be bright

It’s a movement now — Financially Independent, Retired Early (FIRE), an offspring of the bull market, where the stocks only go up, and monthly expenses stay the same for the next 30 years(pixabay)

Published on Nov 16, 2024 08:10 pm IST

WhatsApp groups are starting to mirror life

Modern life is punctuated by WhatsApp groups you are a part of (AP Photo/Fareed Khan) (AP)

Published on Oct 05, 2024 08:57 pm IST

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