Essays

‘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

Coming Out in Celluloid

Mohan Sikka

An account of how a dark Delhi short story written with great personal investment was reincarnated and brought to life in cinema

The former head of the counter-terrorism wing of RAW succumbed to cancer on 16 June. His tweets over the past five months, as he watched his body being laid waste by the effects of his illness and radiation therapy, document his fears, hopes and determination to emerge the victor

Yet Another Everest First

Mihir Srivastava

The first twins to climb Mount Everest, Tashi and Nungshi Malik, on negotiating the death zone in pitch darkness and why their achievement is worthy of attention