For Teenage Smokers, Removing the Allure of the Pack

Remember teenage smoking? It’s been edged out by teenage obesity as the health concern of the moment. States are cutting programs to prevent the former while establis...

The Destructive Influence of Imaginary Peers

We humans irrationally think we’re rational. We think that we decide how to behave by weighing the pros and cons. In reality, the strongest influence on our decisions...

Aroona Bhat : A Woman Of Substance

Aroona Bhat is the founder of A WHOLE NEW LEAF – an Image Consultancy & Management Company.

Apart from her main business, Aroona is also a partner in WILD...

A Gentleman Rocker

Woodstock and Nandu Bhende are inextricably linked in my memory. When the film was showing at Bombay’s Eros Cinema, teenaged audiences filled show after show for its ...

To Lower Maternal Deaths, India Urged to Reconsider Role of Midwives

In this village 30 miles south of Kolkata, three generations of women have depended on Saira Bewa to deliver their babies. On a languid July afternoon, Ms. Saira, 61, squat...

Seven unforgettable stories in the battle against sex trafficking, collected over two decades of my reporting

We think of slavery in terms of those sepia photographs in the history books, the horror that Abraham Lincoln helped end. That’s what I thought when I first reported ...

Pakistani polio strain threatens global campaign

Pakistan — Just a few weeks ago, 11-month-old Shaista was pulling herself up, giggling as she took her first wobbly steps with the helping hand of her teenage mother....

True Review - Social Change @ Prime Time: Balika Vadhu

The makers of Balika Vadhu — Kachchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte have reason to celebrate. Last week the daily series completed 1500 episodes. This is   unpreceden...

Happily Ever After…?

A telegram announced her arrival into this world. Just three words, but how they changed our lives. I had to wait six months to see her. When my eyes fell upon her sleeping...