Book Review| ‘The Menstrual Coupé’: Women’s Protest on Gender Inequality and Patriarchy
Scenes from daily life in Allepey, Kerala. | Photo Credit: Davor Lovincic/Getty Images Debates on gender equality tend to overlook lived realities. Writer and columnist Shahina K. Rafiq’s collection of short stories, The Menstrual Coupé, takes adeep dive into real life as experienced by women. It is an unabashed and
Sergej Tschachotin: Anti-fascist scientist who fought for humanity’s upliftment
At a time when science and scientists are increasingly being yoked to the services of the state and the capital for their aggrandisement, it was illuminating to learn about a scientist who came out openly against fascist powers and devoted his life for the upliftment of humanity. On April 29,
Venice Biennale 2024 aims to deconstruct the Eurocentric gaze
With its storied history dating back to 1895 and a scenic setting for the thought-provoking art it showcases (although La Serenissima has been overrun by selfie-seekers lately), the Venice Biennale is a gift that keeps giving. This year’s landmark 60th edition, titled “Stranieri Ovunque—Foreigners Everywhere” (April 20-November 24, 2024), curated
Interview with Amal Allana on the biography of her father, theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi
The March 22 launch in New Delhi of the theatre director and art gallery owner Amal Allana’s biography of her father, the multifaceted Ebrahim Alkazi (1925-2020), was unusual in many ways. Allana organised a reading of passages from the biography (titled Ebrahim Alkazi: Holding Time Captive) in a kind of partial
‘Sanitary Panels would not have been possible without the Internet’: Rachita Taneja, creator of the webcomic and co-winner of the Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award
Cartoonist Rachita Taneja. The Bengaluru-based artist was recently honoured with the Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award, alongside Hong Kong’s Zunzi. | Photo Credit: Rachita Taneja Rachita Taneja uploaded the very first strip of her now celebrated cartoon, Sanitary Panels, on Facebook in 2014—it was about the newly sworn-in Narendra
Gangster: A Marathi story in translation
He pounded the ribcage of the staircase, his footsteps thumping as he walked. He struck the door with a powerful fist. The door took the blow and opened. Peace evaporated from the room behind it; it began to darken with fear. Seeing the angry demon standing there, the Bohri treasurer
50 Years of ‘Manthan’: How Shyam Benegal’s Landmark Film Offers An Opportunity To Revisit Caste-Class Dialect
Any discussion of Shyam Benegal’s classic Manthan (1976) often focusses on the fact that the film was crowdfunded by half a million milk producers of rural Gujarat and that it narrates the inspirational story of Verghese Kurien, the maverick persona behind India’s “White Revolution”. On the film’s 50th anniversary, when it
Francis Newton Souza Went Against all the Aesthetic Norms of His Day to Paint Poverty, Religion, and Sexuality
The artist Keren Souza Kohn, daughter of the legendary artist Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002), narrated an anecdote her father had once shared with her at his New York apartment. It was about his days in his home State, Goa, where he would often sketch outdoors and small crowds of onlookers
Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg: The Revolutionary Missionary Who Fought Caste Discrimination in Tamil Nadu
In the latest Assembly session, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin unveiled plans for a memorial hall in Tharangambadi (formerly Tranquebar) to honour Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, the founder of the Protestant mission in India. This memorial will celebrate his remarkable contributions to Tamil literature, ensuring his legacy endures for generations to
Rediscovered 1956 Buddhist Monk Diary Reveals Insights on Post-Independence India
On March 29, 1956, 27-year-old Bandara Manatunga left his hometown of Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka and embarked on a singular expedition to India. His destination was Nalanda, where he would be ordained as a “temporary” monk in the Buddhist monastery there. During his two-month stay in India, Manatunga maintained