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Abhishek Asthana

Abhishek Asthana

hindustantimes

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October mood, before it was ruined by AQI

If the months of the year were days of the week, October would be Friday — slightly relaxed, a little indulgent,and smelling of holidays in the...

25.10.2026 10

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

Migrant ethics, and life in the Maximum City

I landed in Mumbai early on Friday. The city makes a terrible first impression. As your aircraft is about to land, it feels like it will crash into a...

11.10.2026 150

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

Schools as markers of class and aspirations

My five-year-old goes to an international school in Gurgaon. Why did we choose it over CBSE/ICSE? Well, I can give a well-rehearsed five-minute...

30.08.2026 40

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

The factory township that birthed an education hub

In the 1980s, a small company shut down, and it led to millions of students leaving their homes after Class X in search of a better future. To know...

16.08.2026 50

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

NEET can’t continue as a make-or-break exam

Two decades ago, on a hot Sunday afternoon, I was writing what felt like the most important exam of my life. It was a day I had been preparing for...

25.07.2026 60

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

A ‘liberating' feeling: Travel as antidote to our exaggerated problems

I am writing this from Bellagio, a town on the shores of Lake Como in Italy. It somehow reminds me of my home in Uttar Pradesh — a home which exists...

05.07.2026 100

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

The fever news channels catch on counting day

‘Kya lagta hai, kaun aayega iss baar?’ (What do you think, who will come to power this time?) A journalist who has freshly landed in an...

25.04.2026 100

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

A little bit of Japan in the lives of Indians

‘Let’s go to Japan,’ I casually asked the missus a few months ago, with some guilt that husbands typically carry — some residual shame for...

04.04.2026 60

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

The great Indian flying experience

Thirty-five minutes remaining — I have never missed a flight in my life. I inherited the traits of my father — a duty-bound man, who sits in the...

14.03.2026 60

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

Seeing places anew, as a traveller of means

09.02.2026 70

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

Adjusting to Delhi-NCR pollution, with a smile

19.01.2026 60

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

A New Year resolution: Eschew comparisons

04.01.2026 70

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

Internet Dhurandhars and the battle of opinions

Dhurandhar, the fiery Aditya Dhar movie, is a hard-hitting movie largely about Karachi gangs and how they aid the larger apparatus of State-sponsored...

14.12.2025 50

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

Songs as time machines and bookmarks of memory

Songs take you back in time, and also to places. Migrant workers from Purvanchal can barely function without Kumar Sanu crooning in the background

24.11.2025 50

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

What matters most at Indian weddings

Wedding dates are almost always decided by astrologers, and hence converge at that particular time of the year that has a bunch of “auspicious dates”

09.11.2025 50

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

The Bihar narrative, between the decades

Bihar has developed since. People who had moved out long ago still carry the same impression of Bihar

19.10.2025 70

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

Why the NRI doesn’t do much for India

Why is the H-1B visa such a big issue for India? It is the brain drain. Students from public-funded universities offering subsidised education moving...

28.09.2025 70

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

Is the smartphone, as we know it, set to disappear?

Any subsequent resolution upgrade, speed upgrade, or camera clarity bump won’t be distinguishable to the naked eye. All you get is more and more...

14.09.2025 70

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

How the corporate life spawns entrepreneurs

Bad bosses are a boon to a growing economy. They contribute by pushing talented individuals out of corporate slavery to start their own ventures and...

24.08.2025 70

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana

What elevator use says about the Indian psyche

The moment a lift arrives at the ground floor, people waiting won’t stop for those inside to disembark; they would rush immediately — a vertical...

03.08.2025 80

hindustantimes

Abhishek Asthana