100 Quotes by Barkha Dutt

Nostalgia can be an awful bore, especially for those whose memories are painted in hues different from ours.

I don't care if a flight attendant is fat as long as she doesn't sneak back to the galley for a gossip when she should be pushing down the food trolley. I get annoyed when the food trays are slapped down on my seat by bored and disinterested men and women. I look for warmth and comfort, not cold efficiency.

What we take away from our school and college years is especially personal and rarely transferable to someone standing outside that circle of experience.

You cannot hurl textbook principles of right and wrong in the age of fake news, WhatsApp campaigns and personality-centric cult politics. Elections are not a moral science class.

There are only a handful of educational institutions that can be called emblems of a Thinking India.

For too long now we have watched the Left perch prettily on the periphery of the government, enjoying influence without accountability. In the two states where it has actually had to deal with the everyday reality of governance, look at how the Chief Ministers have struggled to marry textbook diktats with the actualities of a Changing India.

The army's original job description was to protect borders, but a demanding country depends on it for everything else too, from rebuilding bridges after a tsunami to keeping the peace when religious riots erupt.

The Christianity of the St Stephen's College I remember was atmospheric (how we loved the chapel, the choir and the Cross), cultural and entirely subtle.

Parts of India treat Rushdie like he's a rock star; we especially like boasting about him to our Western friends and acquaintances. It's nice to act like one of the world's most successful authors is as homespun as our handloom saris.