It happened over a weekend. This was the summer of 2006, the height of what was then called Mandal II. Indian media was spewing venom against the idea of caste-based reservation in higher education for Other Backward Classes. Television and newspapers were lionising ‘upper-caste’ protests against quota. Some of us were fighting a lonely battle defending the idea of affirmative action and caste-based policies to redress caste-based disadvantage and discrimination. It was tough, as it involved public debates with friends like Pratap Mehta. We were sitting in my office at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi....