Dilip D'Souza : Thoughts for a nation
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Sep 12 2010
TOURISM AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Sickness at altitude
TOURISM AND THE ENVIRONMENT : Sickness at altitude
The flash flood has brought devastation, and also a warning to Ladakhis not to build indiscriminately, ignoring earlier generations' knowledge about where water was known to flow, writes Dilip D'Souza.
Jun 22 2007
OPINION
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Bare right field
As a believer in the promise of democracy first and above all, I long for the checks and balances of competing ideologies. Yet for too long in this country, we heard only, or largely, the voice of the left, and the right that did emerge eventually was itself flawed, writes Dilip D'Souza.
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Jan 31 2007
OPINION
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One-step, two-step, write

Is it enough for me to go travelling to various parts of this country and write about my experiences? Does it really help those I write about, in any meaningful way? Dilip D'Souza writes about the gnawing question.

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Dec 30 2006
OPINION
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Exploring the new expressways

The idea of world class highways in India, runway smooth, takes some getting used to. There is the Golden Quadrilateral from Delhi to Mumbai, and then there are the 70 kms of rubble between Disa in Gujarat and Sanchor in Rajasthan. Dilip D'Souza drives into the New Year weekend.

Nov 30 2006
OPINION / CASTE
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Sources, two. Understanding, nil.
The mob came from three different directions. Each group was preoccupied with its own murder. Bhayyalal's wife and daughter had their skulls smashed in, and his boys were beaten to death with sticks. Dilip D'Souza listens to the 'background' of yet another caste murder.
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Sep 26 2006
OPINION
The memory of a memorial
OPINION : The memory of a memorial
The tsunami is not forgotten, but in Keechankuppam the fishermen have weighed the risk of another tsunami against the prospects for finding safer housing further inland. And so their huts are back again on the once-ravaged beach, as though the tsunami never happened, writes Dilip D'Souza.
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Jul 31 2006
OPINION : 7/11 BLASTS
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The worst act

For too many of us, the killings of terrorists have come to characterise an entire religion, and taint everybody who follows it. In the Muslim areas of Bombay, residents deal with the feeling that an entire city, an entire country, maybe the whole world, sees them as responsible for terrorism, writes Dilip D'Souza.

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May 29 2006
OPINION: RECORDING GRIEF
Long distance call
OPINION: RECORDING GRIEF : Long distance call
We visited Barshi-Takli because we heard about a farmer who had killed himself there, and then we found out about another farmer suicide there. We made futile little consoling cluck-clucks with bewildered widow, then a weeping mother. Dilip D'Souza visited grief-stricken families in Vidarbha.
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Mar 17 2006
MEASURING POVERTY
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A thin Indian line
The first step towards eradicating poverty is to understand just how many of us are poor, and what that means. Thus far the government's measurement of poverty has simply been a self-serving one, and it's time we adopted a more honest calculation, writes Dilip D'Souza.
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Jan 20 2006
OPINION / THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
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Friday at the court

What's the difference between hearing a case, and merely setting a date for hearing it? Dilip D'Souza isn't quite sure, after yet another day spent answering a court summons. Justice, he learns first-hand, is riding on a prayer, and is often at least one more hearing away.

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Dilip D'Souza was educated in Pilani, Providence, Delhi, Rishi Valley, Bombay, Cambridge, Austin and places in between. He was once a computer scientist, but now he writes for a living, on themes like development, nationalism, science, poverty, as well as travel. He has won several awards for his writing, including the Statesman Rural Reporting award and the Outlook/Picador nonfiction prize. He has published three books and a monograph of essays on patriotism. His most recent book is Roadrunner: An Indian Quest in America.