Essays

Rugby on a Wheelchair

Riya Gupta

Six years ago, school swimming champ Riya Gupta dived into the shallow end of the pool by mistake, fractured her neck and was paralysed neck down. She had no control over her bowels, her fingers were limp, she lost touch with her friends. During sessions of physiotherapy and relearning how to write, she was introduced to Quad Rugby played on wheelchairs. A dozen even got together to form the Indian team, on which she is the only woman. And she made new friends

Fathers, Brothers and Other Demons

Neha Dixit

Priya was raped by her father and brother for nine years—and her mother knew all along—till she saw on television the protests against the 16 December gang-rape

The Cop Who Was Also a Crusader

Mihir Srivastava

N Dilip Kumar has always fought against corruption. Now retired, he writes about it

My City for a Poet

Sumana Roy

Shrikant Verma’s Magadh is brought to new life in Rahul Soni’s translucent translation. Reading it in modern-day ‘Magadh’ is a revelation

Women Don’t Bleed Blue

Ramya Maddali

How I got over the mystery, myth and maligning of menstruation

How I Became a Fort Conservationist

Shridatta Raut

An accountant by profession, Shridatta Raut has devoted his life to finding unknown forts in Maharashtra and conserving them. He even got married in one

Glossy Coat

Gunjeet Sra

The feminist movement may have its problems, but they can’t be solved by a fashion magazine makeover

Carbon

Jaspreet Singh

Sifting through the ashes of a charred history

On Strike in Outer Space

Samir Chopra

The story of a flight to a now-defunct NASA space station demonstrates that even beyond the reach of gravity, Mission Control will still try to keep you down