Philip Mathew

5 days ago | theweek.in | Philip Mathew

FOR TODAY’S YOUTH, war seems like a distant event. But some of us remember well the horrors of 1962, 1971 and 1999. The moment the Union government announced safety drills, my mind wandered to those days of blackouts and black paper over window panes. In the cover story, we look at Operation Sindoor, the thought that went into it and what could follow. The optics were beautifully managed, and I believe that it is as important as the operation itself.

1 week ago | theweek.in | Philip Mathew

IN THIS AGE, wars will not happen. And if they do occur, they will not be long. And if they are long, they will not have conventional or set-piece scenarios. Tanks are obsolete. Aircraft carriers became obsolete yesterday. Who needs planes when we have drones? Drones on land. In the water. In the air. Cardboard drones, didn’t you hear? I am just telling you all the predictions about the modern battlefield that I have heard in the recent past.

2 weeks ago | theweek.in | Philip Mathew

THE SKY OUTSIDE MY WINDOW is overcast at the height of a muggy Kochi summer. But the rain has been playing coy. All colours are washed out thanks to the glowering sky, leaving pale imitations behind. I feel like I am at a house that death has visited. And I am standing at the door with a heavy heart and an empty mouth, with no words to console anyone or even to describe the grief that sits heavy on us all. Only water separates me from the horror that defiled Baisaran, near Pahalgam, yesterday.

3 weeks ago | theweek.in | Philip Mathew

THE WORD XENNIAL HAS COMPLETED one decade of existence. The credit for birthing the word goes to journalist Susan Stankorb. The word is defined as “a micro-generation that serves as a bridge between the disaffection of Gen X and the blithe optimism of millennials”. One of the places where this generation and the generational shift are seen is in newsrooms. I remember a period of transition when THE WEEK’s desk did not have a computer per subeditor.

1 month ago | theweek.in | Philip Mathew

HOW CAN ONE NOT WEEP after reading Souri Raju’s statement? The fifth-generation gravedigger and state secretary of the graveyard workers’ association in Karnataka told Senior Special Correspondent Prathima Nandakumar, “We grew up eating rice sprinkled on cemeteries and have come to realise that we carry nothing with us when we leave this world.”In that statement, he unintentionally points a finger at policy makers, and you and me, dear reader.