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Home / Author / Pavan K Varma

Pavan K Varma

Pavan K Varma

Articles by Pavan K Varma

Some very personal frames of Raghu Rai

The entire world then became the sanctum sanctorum of a sacred space, a pictorial temple, whose key was the lens of his camera. (PTI)

Updated on May 16, 2026 13:38 IST

Just Like That: Why deny Hindu civilization existed to counter pol Hindutva?

These days, there is a debate on the word ‘Hindu’.

Updated on May 10, 2026 07:11 IST

Just Like That: Are gyms creating health or causing harm?

Fitness studios advertise “body transformation” in 45 days. Young men measure protein intake with scientific precision. (Shutterstock)

Updated on May 3, 2026 06:34 IST

Just Like That: Restoring sanity, wisdom, humour with The Importance of Living

Discover how Lin Yu Tang’s The Importance of Living challenges modern obsessions with success, urging a life of simplicity, joy, and mindful balance.

Updated on Apr 26, 2026 03:01 IST

Just Like That: Why it is hard to trump a civilisational State

A nation-State, in its modern conception, is a political construct. A civilisational-State, by contrast, is something far deeper and more enduring. (Wikimedia Commons)

Updated on Apr 19, 2026 07:50 IST

Why it is hard to trump a civilisational State

A nation-State, in its modern conception, is a political construct. A civilisational-State, by contrast, is something far deeper and more enduring. (Wikimedia Commons)

Updated on Apr 18, 2026 14:36 IST

Just Like That: Colonial plunder is a historical wrong that demands correction

Among the most famous is the Kohinoor diamond, ‘the mountain of light’, a 105.6-carat flawless diamond, which once graced the Peacock Throne

Updated on Apr 12, 2026 02:47 IST

Review: Atal Bihari Vajpayee; The Eternal Statesman by Vijay Goel

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee delivering a speech at Parade ground in Bhopal in October 2003. (Prakash Singh/Hindustan Times)

Updated on Apr 10, 2026 17:20 IST

Just Like That: Celebrity fame at the cost of privacy?

The growing obsession with celebrity lives is eroding privacy

Updated on Apr 5, 2026 05:09 IST

Just Like That: How Tulsidas described Lord Ram’s birth in Ramcharitmanas

On Ram Navami, delve into Tulsidas’ timeless narration of Ram’s journey (Getty)

Updated on Mar 29, 2026 16:08 IST

Banquets are about cuisine — and culture

Banquets are not just about the food served, but also food for thought about people, cultures, choices and situations. (Rashtrapati Bhavan)

Updated on Mar 21, 2026 16:39 IST

Just Like That | Faith and Cricket: Kirti Azad’s comment uncalled for

India national cricket team visited a Hanuman temple after their triumphant victory in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final on March 8. (ANI Video Grab)

Updated on Mar 15, 2026 06:45 IST

Just Like That: Sabarimala temple debate on faith, equality and path to reform

The Supreme Court of India, in its landmark judgment of 2018, held that the exclusion of women of menstruating age from the shrine of Lord Ayyappa was unconstitutional

Updated on Mar 8, 2026 04:19 IST

Just Like That: India’s colonial hangover in choosing dog breeds

Why India must rethink its bias for foreign dog breeds and open its homes to resilient, native Indie dogs (Representative photo)

Updated on Mar 1, 2026 03:33 IST

Pakistan’s cricket mirrors suffocation of its civic life

The cricket field is not a parade ground, and batsmen are not infantry obeying orders. (AFP)

Updated on Feb 21, 2026 16:04 IST

Just Like That: Folk tales and earthy wisdom that grounds India’s philosophies

Representational image. (X)

Updated on Feb 15, 2026 14:25 IST

Just Like That: A civilisation proud of writers but careless with their legacy

His haveli in Ballimaran, Old Delhi, was for decades a monument of neglect—hemmed in by encroachments, stripped of dignity, its genius obscured by grime. (Getty)

Updated on Feb 8, 2026 13:45 IST

Just Like That: Beating Retreat and India’s long unfinished de-colonisation

But this year, when the Beating Retreat ended with the playing of Vande Mataram, I found it deeply moving too (PTI)

Updated on Feb 1, 2026 07:06 IST

Just Like That: A shrinking of art in our literature, films & music

Classical music requires space for elaboration, as each raga is meant to evoke a mood. But increasingly, audiences don’t have the patience to let that unfold. (HT Archive)

Updated on Jan 26, 2026 01:51 IST

Just Like That: India’s long journey of faith, conflict and coexistence

I have not the slightest doubt that there are few civilizations which, at a foundational level, have a more tolerant and eclectic worldview than ours. (Getty/ Representative photo)

Updated on Jan 18, 2026 09:44 IST

Just Like That: When Bollywood’s love stories wrote a parallel history

Raj Kapoor and Nargis in the movie Awaara.

Updated on Jan 12, 2026 01:08 IST

Just Like That | Goa’s journey from hippie escape to top tourist destination

Over time, as the world urbanised and global travel became cheaper, these footprints in Goa turned into footfalls measured in millions (Representative photo)

Updated on Jan 4, 2026 06:52 IST

Just Like That | Lutyens’ Delhi: Racist legacy behind the city’s elite address

Publishing house Collins in London brought out The Letters of Edwin Lutyens to his Wife Lady Emily in 1985 (Amazon.in)

Updated on Dec 21, 2025 06:56 IST

Just Like That | Why Indians follow rules abroad but flout them at home

Install CCTV cameras, automate challans, remove human discretion—and compliance shoots up dramatically. Suddenly, Indians who earlier treated traffic rules as negotiable become scrupulously careful. (Representative photo)

Updated on Dec 14, 2025 06:38 IST

Just Like That: Yudhishtar’s reply to the Yaksha in Mahabharata remains timeless

“Millions pass on, yet the living think they won’t die; what can be more wonderful than this strange life?” --- Yudhishthir’s reply as paraphrased in Yudhishtar and Draupadi (amazon.in)

Updated on Dec 7, 2025 10:14 IST

Inglorious ways of showcasing power

When a person’s entire worth is dependent on the position he occupies on a hierarchical scale, the assertion of status (and its recognition by others) becomes of crucial importance (Hindustan Times)

Updated on Nov 29, 2025 12:49 IST

Just Like That: Old monuments at risk amid neglect, encroachment, ASI strains

Caves of Ajanta and Ellora in India’s Aurangabad district (Pixabay)

Updated on Nov 22, 2025 08:44 IST

Just Like That| Hema Malini says Dharmendra recovering as rumours revive legacy

Recent rumours of cine star Dharmendra’s death ahead of his 90th birthday were put to rest by his wife Hema Malini.

Updated on Nov 16, 2025 07:49 IST

Just Like That | Delhi’s brief winter beauty, when the city rediscovers grace

To walk through Lodhi Gardens in December is to understand why the city endures. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Updated on Nov 9, 2025 05:47 IST

Leisure as time for intellectual renewal

Writing allowed Nehru to step outside the immediacy of politics. (HT Archive)

Updated on Nov 1, 2025 16:28 IST

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