Essays

No More Goddesses, Please. Bring in the Sluts

Brinda Bose

The ‘Abused Goddesses’ ad campaign on domestic violence is appalling and terrifying. By deifying women, it strips them of individuality, sexuality and power

The One and Only

Chinki Sinha

Will Patna’s first nightclub be able to survive? So wonders Chinki Sinha on a visit to Disc Man

A Terrorist’s Body

Gunjeet Sra

Gunjeet Sra recounts her memories of heading out with her grandfather as a child to join the village in a celebration at the spot where a Khalistani separatist had been gunned down

‘Let’s Share the Cock’

Nandini Krishnan

Prospective grooms say the darndest things. Nandini Krishnan gathers stories of hilarious adventures of women in the bizarre world of marriage arrangement

Rejecting Home

Claudia Richter

Troubled by the spectres haunting Europe, Claudia Richter is on self-imposed exile in India

City of Perpetual Wait

Chinki Sinha

The generation that grew up in Patna’s years of anarchy understood the wisdom of waiting and it has remained with them

How to Spend Your Money

Michael Van Cleef Ault

The owner of one of the world’s most expensive nightclubs, where a table spend can be close to $100,000, on why creating great parties is an art in itself

The Bar Dancer Who Became a Writer

Lhendup G Bhutia

Shagufta Rafique became a sex worker at the age of 17, joined bar-dancing some years later, and now finds success as a film scriptwriter

A Child Without a Country

Michael Edison Hayden

Why being born inbetween cultures may not be such a bad thing

Wilful Ignorance

Omair Ahmed

Urdu originated as a mix of several languages spoken during the Sultanate era in Delhi. Those who reject the language now are rejecting their own legacy