Butchers of Sopore and Birmingham

Nine years of calm before icy storm

Kashmir turns crimson with blood of Pandits

AN UN-ISLAMIC KIDNAPPING AND CHAOS IN THE VALLEY

The illusion of azaadi and Kashmir’s historic deception

How Pak's terror policy evolved in Kashmir

Birth of social media jihadists, death of Article-370

Operation Sindoor: When Indian missiles rained on Pak terror parade

<div class='ite_mg_banner ads__container'><div class='it_mg_bnrBox'><div class='ite_bnr_cont'><div class='ite_cont_dtl'> <h4>Subscribe to India Today Print + Digital. Your First Month Is On Us. <span class='bold_text'> ₹299/month</span> thereafter. Cancel anytime.</h4><a href='https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscriptions.intoday.in%2Findiatoday%3Futm_source%3Dtop-web-banner ' class='ite_subscribe_btn origin_conscent_url' target='_blank'>SUBSCRIBE</a></div></div></div></div>

US Election coverage

India

World

NewsMo

Fact Check

Programmes

Match Schedule

Teams

Player Stats

Match Report

LIVE SCORES

<div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F2011October%2Fs-gandhi_093011075137.jpg" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img><p>Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place." This beautiful passage is from Susan Sontag's seminal essay<i>Illness as Metaphor</i>, an argument against "the lurid metaphors" with which "the kingdom of ill" has been "landscaped". So it was all figurative or metaphorical when it came to tuberculosis in the nineteenth century; and today cancer is the illness that continues to be mystified.</p><p>Sontag's "point is that illness is not a metaphor, and that the most truthful way of regarding illness-and the healthiest way of being ill-is one most purified of, most resistant to, metaphoric thinking." Lutyens' Delhi abhors the poetics of suffering, and we are most likely to be spared metaphors in this season of illness. In a city that institutionalised the macabre, the sickening narrative of illness is steeped in rumour. The iron curtain behind which Sonia Gandhi, one of the most powerful women in the world, suffers has brought the hushed intimacy of speculation to politics. "What has struck Sonia?" has become a national curiosity feeding on rumour. The secretive patient and the imaginative citizen are now characters in a sordid drama that demeans both. Why does Sonia allow herself to be anatomised in the imagination of others-and mummified by the sycophancy of the faithful? Is her privacy a public matter?</p><p>As a leader who is out of sight but whose absence is an overwhelming presence in the political life of a nation, Sonia, reportedly recovering from a nameless malady, belongs to another era, and to a different political culture incompatible with the open societies of the 21st century. A leader who dreads the information about herself is a leader who is in the business of manufacturing her own mythology. The immortality of the supreme leader is not an idea sustained by a captive people; it has always been the fantasy of the Chosen One. </p><p>The Shah of Iran refused to tell his subjects the truth about his leukemia, for secrecy was a prerequisite for the perpetuation of the legend of the infallible. As Jerrold M. Post and Robert S. Robins argue in their book, <i>When Illness Strikes the Leader: Dilemma of the Captive King,</i> the story of the afflicted body and the struggle for staying in power is as old as politics. In totalitarian regimes, the maximum leader reigned from the make-believe of eternity; the death bed was only for lesser mortals. </p><p>But even twenty-first century socialist dictators are coming to terms with the demands of the information age. Hugo Chavez at last revealed that doctors in Havana had removed a malignant tumour "the size of a basketball" from his pelvic area. And it is no longer a secret that his spiritual guru, Fidel Castro, is on his way to the final meeting with Marx. Strange, the most secretive Leader with a monarchical  today lives in a democracy as open as India, rumours making the "night-side" of her life even darker.</p><div class="itemcenter"><amp-iframe height="62" title="" width="320" sandbox="allow-forms allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-top-navigation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" allowfullscreen src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Findiatoday%2Fbanner%2Fpreferred-source-new.html%3Fv%3D1.014%5Cu0026native%3D1" class="mrBt15 preferred-source-banner"> </amp-iframe></div><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Sep 30, 2011</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div></div>

signature

Signature

s-prasannarajan

S. Prasannarajan

<div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F2011October%2Fs-gandhi_093011075137.jpg" loading="lazy" /></div><p>Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place." This beautiful passage is from Susan Sontag's seminal essay<i>Illness as Metaphor</i>, an argument against "the lurid metaphors" with which "the kingdom of ill" has been "landscaped". So it was all figurative or metaphorical when it came to tuberculosis in the nineteenth century; and today cancer is the illness that continues to be mystified.</p><p>Sontag's "point is that illness is not a metaphor, and that the most truthful way of regarding illness-and the healthiest way of being ill-is one most purified of, most resistant to, metaphoric thinking." Lutyens' Delhi abhors the poetics of suffering, and we are most likely to be spared metaphors in this season of illness. In a city that institutionalised the macabre, the sickening narrative of illness is steeped in rumour. The iron curtain behind which Sonia Gandhi, one of the most powerful women in the world, suffers has brought the hushed intimacy of speculation to politics. "What has struck Sonia?" has become a national curiosity feeding on rumour. The secretive patient and the imaginative citizen are now characters in a sordid drama that demeans both. Why does Sonia allow herself to be anatomised in the imagination of others-and mummified by the sycophancy of the faithful? Is her privacy a public matter?</p><p>As a leader who is out of sight but whose absence is an overwhelming presence in the political life of a nation, Sonia, reportedly recovering from a nameless malady, belongs to another era, and to a different political culture incompatible with the open societies of the 21st century. A leader who dreads the information about herself is a leader who is in the business of manufacturing her own mythology. The immortality of the supreme leader is not an idea sustained by a captive people; it has always been the fantasy of the Chosen One. </p><p>The Shah of Iran refused to tell his subjects the truth about his leukemia, for secrecy was a prerequisite for the perpetuation of the legend of the infallible. As Jerrold M. Post and Robert S. Robins argue in their book, <i>When Illness Strikes the Leader: Dilemma of the Captive King,</i> the story of the afflicted body and the struggle for staying in power is as old as politics. In totalitarian regimes, the maximum leader reigned from the make-believe of eternity; the death bed was only for lesser mortals. </p><p>But even twenty-first century socialist dictators are coming to terms with the demands of the information age. Hugo Chavez at last revealed that doctors in Havana had removed a malignant tumour "the size of a basketball" from his pelvic area. And it is no longer a secret that his spiritual guru, Fidel Castro, is on his way to the final meeting with Marx. Strange, the most secretive Leader with a monarchical  today lives in a democracy as open as India, rumours making the "night-side" of her life even darker.</p><div class="itemcenter"><iframe scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="62" awidth="320" aheight="62" amplayout="fixed" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Findiatoday%2Fbanner%2Fpreferred-source-new.html%3Fv%3D1.014" class="preferred-source-banner" loading="lazy"></iframe></div><style>.preferred-source-banner{  margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}</style><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Sep 30, 2011</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div></div>

A leader who dreads the information about herself is a leader who is in the business of manufacturing her own mythology. The immortality of the supreme leader is not an idea sustained by a captive people; it has always been the fantasy of the Chosen One. 

India Today

Illness as Rumour - India Today

Is Sonia's privacy a public matter?

Illness as Rumour

Prince Harry defended British and allied troops after Donald Trump questioned Nato roles in Afghanistan, saying their sacrifices deserve respect and truth, as the remarks drew sharp criticism in Britain and Europe.


Prince Harry 

I lost friends there: Prince Harry rebukes Trump’s Nato remarks

Donald Trump accused Canada of opposing the Golden Dome missile shield over Greenland despite its protective benefits, claiming Ottawa instead chose closer business ties with China, which he warned would quickly exploit them.


Donald Trump and Mark Carney

‘China will eat them up’: Trump says Canada opposes Golden Dome over Greenland

The Trump administration is considering an oil blockade to pressure Cuba after Venezuela’s collapse, debating whether cutting energy supplies could trigger regime change while raising humanitarian and regional stability concerns.

President Donald Trump monitors US military operations in Venezuela with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, left, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (AP photo)

Is Cuba next? Trump team debates oil cutoff to topple Havana’s leadership

According to the woman, the accused and she were in a relationship, and she had conceived a child who was aborted at the man's insistence. The relationship between the two continued, and she later gave birth to a girl child who was now 8-month-old.

Bombay High Court

Repeated cohabitation, child’s birth can amount to marriage-like tie: High Court

A massive winter storm is sweeping across the US, threatening ice, snow and extreme cold for nearly half the population, shutting schools, canceling flights and raising power outage concerns.

Winter Storm 

Millions of Americans brace for ice, snow and power outages in massive storm

Play Time!

Border 2

Shashi Tharoor

PM Modi

Border 2 Movie Review

Donald Trump

Delhi Weather

Basant Panchami

Davos 2026

T20 World Cup

Dhurandhar

Jana Nayagan

Jaipur Literature Festival

WPL 2026

AR Rahman

Budget

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election rally in poll-bound Kerala on Thursday saw a warm and light-hearted moment when he paused his speech to acknowledge a young child in the crowd holding up his picture, drawing loud applause. Modi asked the boy to hand over the photograph, write his home address on the back, and promised to write to him personally, directing SPG personnel to handle the picture carefully as a token of the child’s affection. 

PM Modi's Kerala  rally.

You’ll get tired beta: PM’s warm moment with child holding his pic at Kerala rally

 Amidst inclement weather and heavy snowfall, a team of Udhampur police rescued 12 individuals, including women and children, who were stranded at Chochru Galla in the upper ridges of the Basantgarh area.

Udhampur Police Rescue 12 People Stranded In Heavy Snow

Udhampur police rescue 12 people stranded in heavy snowfall in J&K's Basantgarh

Ajith Kumar's fans took the celebrations too seriously as they burst crackers inside a theatre hall during Mankatha screening. The film re-released in South India on January 23.

Ajith Mankatha celebrations

Watch: Ajith's fans burst crackers for Mankantha intro scene inside auditorium

In an exclusive interview with India Today TV Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai at Davos, Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama spoke in fluent Hindi and slammed Donald Trump for his remarks and recalled his student days in India. 

Download App

Subscribe to India Today Print + Digital. Your First Month Is On Us. ₹299/month thereafter. Cancel anytime.

Is Sonia's privacy a public matter?

A leader who dreads the information about herself is a leader who is in the business of manufacturing her own mythology. The immortality of the supreme leader is not an idea sustained by a captive people; it has always been the fantasy of the Chosen One.

PUBLICATIONS

TELEVISION

EVENTS

RADIO

GAMING

USEFUL LINKS

PRINTING

WELFARE

DISTRIBUTION

SYNDICATIONS

WEBSITES

EDUCATION