Interview with Srikar Raghavan: Exploring Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka in Rama Bhima Soma
Author Srikar Raghavan reveals that the book is a personal journey more than a comprehensive survey. | Photo Credit: Faisal Ahmed Rama Bhima Soma: Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka by Srikar Raghavan is a work of astounding audacity as it delves into the complicated cultural world of modern Karnataka, using a
BOOK REVIEW | Samantha Harvey’s Orbital’s Pertinent Political Point is Held Back by a Weak Narrative
Six astronauts circle the earth aboard the International Space Station. How do they feel and what do they see in the course of one earth day? This is the premise of Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, which won the 2024 Booker Prize. A slim 136-page affair set in space, it is neither science
Republic Day: How Does the Nicobarese Community Celebrate It? All You Need to Know
Removing fibres by running a thread through the dough made from pandanus pulp. | Photo Credit: Rishika Pardikar “Can you video call me? Mummy is making pandanus. I will show it to you,” Solomie Joora (38) tells me over a phone call. “I’ll come there?” “Yes, come.” Joora is a
Game Changer Review: Is the 2-Hour Film Starring Ram Charan for the Instagram-Reel Generation?
To watch films like these is to see cinema emerge not from the scene but as some haphazard, cumulative, misshapen thing. In picture, director Shankar and actor Ram Charan from the sets of the film. | Photo Credit: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Riddle me this. You say you are making a
Book Review: “Theyyam: Indian Folk Ritual Theatre” is a Guide to North Malabar’s Captivating Folk Ritual
Theyyam, a captivating folk ritual of North Malabar, encompasses hundreds of variations: most performed annually, others intermittently, and a few as rarely as once in many decades. Deeply rooted in Malabar’s folk religion, this belief system involves local deities and spirits manifesting on earth by possessing men. This belief system
BOOK REVIEW | The Genesis of Indian Environmentalism in Ramachandra Guha’s “Speaking with Nature”
Tagore was one of the founders of Indian environmentalism,” Ram Guha told me, when I had finally managed to grab a seat near him and start a conversation. “Really?! How so?” I gasped. “You wait till my next book comes out,” he said. This was at a lit fest in
The Disposable Woman: How Indian Cinema Uses Sexual Violence to Build Male Heroes
A girl gets raped in Baby John, the Hindi remake of the Tamil film Theri, a crime that is repeated in Bagheera, Kannada cinema’s most successful film this past year, as also in Maharaja, starring Vijay Sethupathi, another Tamil blockbuster. In the Rajinikanth-starrer Vettaiyan, again, it is a woman who is assaulted, raped, and murdered. In Pushpa
One and Three Quarters Book Review: A Tale of Cats, Corruption and Political Ambition
Serendipity brought One and Three Quarters by Shrikant Bojewar, translated by Vikrant Pande, to your reviewer who, over the years, has found and loved books about cats. Most are Japanese, though there are scattered gems in the West, like Edgar Allen Poe’s memorable short story, “The Black Cat”. However, even Kathryn Hughes’
PHOTO ESSAY | A Tribute to Malayalam Writer and Scenarist, M.T. Vasudevan Nair
MT was a man of many parts. A doyen of Malayalam literature who mentored many people with his trademark kindness, warmth, and genuine concern. M.T. Vasudevan Nair was an iconic figure in Kerala during my childhood. His versatility and creativity in literature, cinema, and journalism, combined with his star-like fame,
TRIBUTE | P. Jayachandran (1944-2025): Soulful Voice of Indian Playback Music, Passes Away
Jayachandran recorded over 16,000 songs in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi, was widely recognised for his contribution to Indian music, having won several awards for best playback singer. | Photo Credit: S. MAHINSHA Renowned playback singer P. Jayachandran, popular across South India and affectionately called “Bhava Gayakan” for his