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
Paperclip: Website Run by Seven Friends is Making Waves by Sharing Intriguing Stories from India’s Past to Counter Misinformation
“Stay curious!” is the tagline that comes at the end of all posts by Paperclip, a digital media house dedicated to storytelling run by a team of seven operating out of multiple locations, from Chicago to Kolkata. The description on its website reads: “Through captivating storytelling, Paperclip aims to inform,
Short Story | India: A Bengali Story In Translation
A small market had sprung up where the asphalt highway turned to the left. The village stood behind it, hidden from view by a dense bamboo grove. The village had no electricity, but the market did. There were three tea-shops, two for sweetmeats, three for garments, one stationery store and
Vikas Swarup, Q&A Author Discusses New Book, Writing Process, and Diplomacy
Former diplomat and author Vikas Swarup (left) with journalist Vir Sanghvi (right) during the book launch of The Girl with the Seven Lives at the India International Centre, New Delhi, on July 19. | Photo Credit: Vitasta Kaul The appreciation he received for his “authentic portrayal” of women in his
The More Thunderous the Chanting of Jai Sri Ram, the More Sita Fades Out: Ranabir Chakravarti
Ranabir Chakravarti finds the Sangh Parivar’s projection of the singularity of the mode of veneration of Ram in the tradition of the Ramcharitmanas problematic. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement Dissecting the Sangh Parivar’s muscular reimagining of Ram, historian Ranabir Chakravarti traces how this narrow view clashes with India’s rich
Mangifera Indica: Sopan Joshi’s New Book Details India’s Never-Ending Love Affair With the Mango
Sopan Joshi is an independent journalist and author based in Delhi. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement There is no other country that has a compulsive relationship with a fruit like India has with mangoes, said Sopan Joshi, journalist and author of the book Mangifera Indica: A Biography of the
Tripura’s Forgotten Risha: The Ancient Fabric Making a Comeback
Once upon a time, not so long ago, tribal women of Tripura carried the forested landscape of the tiny north-eastern State in their hearts in the form of a narrow band of cloth with intricately woven patterns of butterflies, birds and leaves that they wore on their breasts. Called risha,
Mosuo: China’s Last Matrilineal Society
WATCH | Mosuo: China’s last matrilineal society The Mosuo, only 40,000 strong, run their world differently from most: women are in charge. | Video Credit: Camera and editing by Samson Ronald K.; Presentation by Saatvika Radhakrishna; Supervising producer: Jinoy Jose P. On the shores of the picturesque Lugu Lake in
Why Is Ukraine’s Theater Scene Thriving Amid War?
“For these occasions I choose a beautiful dress, do my makeup, and wear perfume. These are rare opportunities we lost during the war,” Olena Vdovychenko, a theatergoer living in Kyiv tells DW. For her, the theatre is a beautiful escape. It had always been special—long before the Russian invasion. And the daily air
James Baldwin, Influential Writer and Civil Rights Figure Turns 100
James Baldwin in London on February 22, 1965. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives James Baldwin was born in the New York district of Harlem in 1924, when the world was already deeply racist. Poverty was rampant and there was police violence. Baldwin grew up with eight siblings. His stepfather