Phantasmagoric Appeal of the One

HE is everywhere. There are his cutouts in which the prime minister is holding a broom. In others, he is waving at nobody in particular. And then, there are the selfie booths at airports, in institutions, and at railway stations, with a 3D life-size replica of Modi.

Epitaph on the Tombstone of Allah Jilai (1337 Hijri/1919 AD)

This is the strange and painful tale of Allah Jilai If you pay close attention, these are all miracles of love

Wild Smelling Flowers

Heavy, ruthless blades haul and push debris away, excavate ghosts of history, demolish mosques, minarets.

War On Gaza: The Politics Of Language In Media Coverage

Mainstream media uses different sets of words for the two sides when reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict

Born and Raised in Bambai 17

Farmers staging a 'Zameen Satyagrah' near Jaipur in 2017 to protest against the forced acquisition of their land by the government

What Age Has Taught Me: Silence

Farmers from Tamil Nadu staged a protest in 2017 against farmer suicides

Bhatti (Furnace)

In the furnaces of their homes Women offer their entire lives And keep thinking Perhaps!

On Elsewhereness

Mother walks through a military curfew upon shattered windows bearing no address. Upon little rocks still lugging the memory of the mountains they once were a part of.

Losar Greeting

The family of Arsalan, a nineteen-year-old from Zaldagar, Srinagar protests in 2022 against his arrest by the National Investigation Agency

Ninna Dakhale Yaavaga Needutte? (When Will You Show Your Documents?)

Those queueing for aadhar-ration-cards between thumb-scans and monkey-tricks of servers who lose their lives–their documents you demand, When will you show your documents!?

My Mother

A gathering resolving to form Hawkers Union in Shillong, Meghalaya in 2016

Blood of Other Days

In the by-gone days of the other life  Before the advent of the WORD  Spilling the blood of foes  Was the honour-code

I Want to be killed by an Indian Bullet

I heard the news long ago that they were looking for me; in the morning in the afternoon at night. My children told me; my wife told me.

My Invented Land

My native soil was created from tiny sparks that clung to grand mother's earthen pot which conjured savoury dishes I've been looking for all my life in vain.

Native Land

First came the scream of the dying in a bad dream, then the radio report, and a newspaper: six shot dead, twenty-five houses razed, sixteen beheaded with hands tied behind their backs inside a church . . .

Ayodhya: A Personal Account

The homogenisation of Indian culture and the seizure and erasure of history will only get stronger in times to come

The Sounds of Silence

The mystical desert of Jaisalmer, the majestic 12th-century fort palace, and a juxtaposition of sounds and silences from 20 different countries the story of a unique 'museum' within a museum

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

The Equator Line (TEL), a themed, quarterly magazine of non-conformist writing blazed a brilliant trail of its own before shutting down

Through the Looking Glass

Nearly 40 years on, Govind Nihalani's memorable social and political satire Party unravels the hypocrisy of India's urban elite and raises vital questions about art

Inglorious Miners

The rat-hole miners involved in the Uttarakhand rescue operations are well aware that soon they will fade from people's memories and will have no option but to go back crawling inside dark tunnels

Rethinking Development in the Himalayas

Several reports published around the UN climate change conference, COP28, warn that the threats to the Himalayas from climate change are more direct and immediate

Saving Languages

Many threatened languages in the country might become critically endangered in the near future. A few from some tribal communities, especially women, are doing their bit to preserve and document their mother tongues

Painful Silence

Palestinian women have had to suffer the adverse impacts of war, while living within a deeply conservative and patriarchal society

Lopsided Language

Coverage of the Israel-Palestine war raises the larger question of bias in media representations

UNPROMISED AND PROMISED

Calls for a Greater Israel are gaining currency since the Hamas attack. But any move to do so would only lead to a wider regional war

Science of Electioneering

Unmasking the factors the BJP has used in every election since Modi became the supremo

END OF AN ERA?

A resurgent BJP may have hurt the Congress, but it has also belittled the importance of regional and smaller parties in national politics

A WELFARIST TURN?

In the recent state elections, political parties went all out to woo voters with welfare schemes. The verdicts, however, prove that populist policies sans good governance won't necessarily bring electoral dividends

BUCKING THE TREND

Madhya Pradesh will be a walkover for the Congress. Chhattisgarh will be tougher.

Ayodhya: Many Cities, Many Histories

ONCE simply a mound of land nourished by the Sarayu River and smaller streams, Ayodhya has seen its fate change repeatedly.