Dr. Chandana Kashyap

(Photo - Instagram/Sanjukta Parashar) The 2006-batch IPS officer, known as Assam's ‘Iron Lady’, has become the first woman to lead the CRPF's specialised jungle-warfare force. Her journey from academia and JNU to Assam's insurgency zones, the NIA and now CoBRA offers a different story about women and operational command in India's security forces. In 2006, Sanjukta Parashar entered the Indian Police Service with an All India Rank of 85 in the 2005 Civil Services Examination. Nearly two decades later, the Assam-born officer has now become the first woman officer to hold the post : Inspector General (IG) of the CRPF's elite CoBRA force , a 10-battalion formation trained for jungle warfare and counter-insurgency operations. CRPF headquarters issued her appointment order on September 10, 2026 . She succeeds Danesh Rana , a 1996-batch officer, and takes charge of a specialised force whose personnel operate in difficult terrain and undertake missions involving jungle ...

  Representative image of a frustrated educated youth coping with unemployment . [Image by Ron Lach / Pexels (Free to use)] Educated unemployment in India—especially among postgraduates and PhD holders—has quietly become both a mental-health and economic crisis. When years of study end in uncertainty, confidence fades, productivity suffers, and the nation loses its brightest minds to frustration and despair. The need is not only for jobs, but for empathy, structured mental-health support, and institutional reform—where universities, families, and policymakers work together to rebuild dignity, direction, and purpose for India’s educated youth.

A small girl dressed as an Assamese bride for her Toloni Biya - where childhood meets expectations of womanhood (Photo used with permission from Anksuman Dutta Photography - Facebook video) An ancient Assamese ritual marking a girl's first menstruation is gradually sparking debate between cultural pride and personal privacy. Can tradition evolve without violating dignity?

Space is infinite. Our moments aren’t . [Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Pexels] What makes Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar an unforgettable masterpiece is not only space travel or the complex astrophysics it translates into something visually graspable, but it's about what time does to love, family, and survival. Beyond science, it reminds us that technology can take us far, but it cannot replace a home, restore lost years, or undo the emotional weight of choices. 'Interstellar'’s central question becomes urgent: When this planet Earth becomes unlivable anymore, are we meant to leave it, or are we meant to save it when we still have time? In the end, the universe stays vast and uncertain, but what remains constant is human responsibility, connection, and the decision of what we are willing to protect.

  Riding her own path (Representational image by the author)

  A silent shoreline at the South China Sea, Vietnam (Photo by the author) When the tide of employment suddenly falls, life doesn’t stop — it stirs. Job loss can feel like a huge loss, yet within that quiet gap, energy, identity, and purpose begin to shift. This in-between space can become a rare moment to rethink direction, rebuild confidence, and rediscover the parts of ourselves we left behind in the rush of work.

Behind the Disguise (Representational image by the author) Undercover reporting (UR) breaks the rules, barriers and principles of conventional journalism to protect the public interest. When traditional journalism is locked out, undercover reporting steps in. From hidden hunger in North Korea to secret political influence campaigns, this article examines how journalists break rules to reveal the truth by going undercover, and why deception remains one of journalism’s most controversial yet most necessary tools, often at severe personal, legal, and psychological risk.

Image source: Dasarath Deka, Senior Photojournalist (used with permission) Assam’s fight for the protection of its socio-cultural and linguistic identity continues — this article explores the journey from the Assam Movement (1979–1985) to the anti-C(A)A Movement 2019, and why the protests refuse to be forgotten.