How Private Archives are Making Indian History More Accessible and Inclusive
It was research for my historical novel, Wanderers, All, that led me to the police headquarters in Mumbai. My enquiry about the Bombay Police Gazette from 1911, among other information, was met with a blank stare. A helpful constable then led me to the in-house library that comprised a large
Short Story | ‘No one like Appa’: A Tamil story in translation
Translated from Tamil by Prabha Sridevan. An eccentric father mentors his family, ignoring societal norms. Appa was a strange person. My thatha, my grandfather, said that his strangeness was due to the fact he had left home when he was sixteen and wandered around before returning. But that was not the only
‘Hindi filmmakers should go back to the drawing board’: Manoj Bajpayee
The team of The Fable was jumping up and down—for joy and for Instagram—in the mid century modernist foyer of Berlin’s Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts) building. Manoj Bajpayee, 54, stood graciously for the first few photographs, and then sat down a little to the left of where his
It is time we made a truce with that reviled vegetable, cabbage
Cabbage must be the most deeply loathed vegetable on the planet. Condemned as vapid and tasteless, it is the acknowledged saboteur of a home-cooked meal. Bought for bulk and plonked on the kitchen counter with an air of atavistic triumph, it is a leafy cranium, freshly harvested off the enemy.
Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro dies aged 92
One of the most esteemed contemporary writers, Canadian author Alice Munro, has passed away at the age of 92 in her home in Ontario, a spokesperson for her publisher confirmed on Tuesday. A titan of short-story writing, Munro revolutionised the architecture of short stories and demonstrated that the format was worthy of the Nobel Prize.
K.G. Subramanyan (1924-2016): Artist, activist, provocateur, teacher
The exhibition “One Hundred Years and Counting: Re-Scripting KG Subramanyan” (April 5-June 21), at Emami Art, Kolkata, organised in collaboration with Seagull, and the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), Baroda, is an invigorating, brilliant, and multifaceted celebratory show worthy of the master. Curated by the cultural theorist Nancy Adajania,
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
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
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
Birds of the air: A Hindi story in translation
Translated by Vanashree and Bindu Singh A story from an influential voice of small-town India about two spirited young vagabonds, and their strange bonding. When the bagghi-cart driver felt that a naughty boy was swinging on the back door footboard, he swirled his whip, yelling: “Get down, you bastard!” Haribol—Harbolwa—jumped down, giggling, and