Recommended Sunday Reading–January 8, 2017

What does 2017 hold for Sasikala Natarajan?

The chief reason Sasikala is disliked by the AIADMK cadre is that she has placed relatives and loyalists from Mannargudi in key positions. Her family of three brothers and a sister and their brood have all benefited from Sasikala's special bond with Jayalalithaa. Her brother's wife, Ilavarasi, lived with her at Poes Garden along with her son Vivek, who nurses political ambitions and handles businesses like their new acquisition, Jazz Cinemas. Nephew TTV Dinakaran, a former MP, enjoys her backing. Another nephew, Sudhakaran— the one Jayalalithaa adopted briefly and conducted a lavish wedding for, and later banished—was back around her body during the last rites. In The Telegraph.

Caught between truth and lies

Post-Truth means: “circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotional and personal belief.” Gauged from internet use, “post-truth” is actually the most popular word of the year 2016…post-truth does not equal fake news or misinformation or lying or propaganda or exaggeration … it thrives in an overdose of information and lets you choose your own echo chamber of nonsense.” In Dawn.

A new novel about hope and despair

The novel is also about forgiveness. A widow is asked—ordered, actually—to forgive her husband’s killer. Almost immediately, another character asks her not to forgive the killer. But what does it actually mean to forgive someone, asks the novel. Who actually has the right to forgive a wrong? What does it mean to be merciful? In The Hindu.

Dhoni effect outside cricket

In 2007, when I was editor of the business daily The Financial Express, Dhoni was crowned captain of the Indian team, and we coined a term “Dhoni effect”, which went far beyond cricket. We spent bushels of money, sending three correspondents to 12 Tier-II towns, from Guwahati to Surat, from Mysore to Shimla, to report on the socio-economic impact of Dhoni being made captain, and we ran a series of articles under the “Dhoni Effect” column header. In Mint.

Snow brings back smiles in Kashmir

There is enough water for irrigation, hydro-power generation and drinking for the next summer. For children, it is play time, so, snowballs are back and so is the snowman. The Valley has witnessed a good snowfall after eight long years, disrupting traffic and even making it difficult for the people to move around. With a respite in the snowfall, the roads in towns are made motorable by automobile snow cutters or manually by engaging labourers for snow clearance. In The Tribune.