Essays

Growing Up in Sonagachi

Nilayan Dutta

Nilayan Dutta’s childhood was spent in easy familiarity with one of the most famous red light districts of India. Like a recurring dream, his memories keep drawing him back there

The Killing Fields of Falcons

Ramki Sreenivasan

Last October, Ramki Sreenivasan was among a group of conservationists who went to investigate the illegal hunting and sale of migratory Amur falcons in Nagaland. What they saw was a mind-numbing massacre of the species

Home Space

Michael Edison Hayden

Malls in India offer expats a disturbing comfort of familiarity

Pather Panchali

Sumana Roy

The farce surrounding one of India’s most important roads, National Highway 31

A Father at 96

Aanchal Bansal

Four years short of 100, Ramjeet Raghav has fathered two children. Milk and an ability to please his wife thrice every night did the trick.

We Are Blind to Beauty

Indrajit Hazra

What the lack of interest in a spectacular show on Tagore tells us about India’s art brigade

The Hypocrisy of Indian Designers

Kallol Datta

Indian designers treat runway shows as entertainment. What they show on the ramp, they dare not sell in their stores

Jaw-Jaw with Jarawas

Pramod Kumar

Pramod Kumar is one of the few researchers in the world who has interacted with this Andamanese tribe. He recently completed a PhD thesis on the grammar of their language

Beastly Tales from Cover to Cover

Arpita Das

The assumption that all animal stories are children’s stories is an odd one. Two recent books, by Nilanjana Roy and Musharraf and Michelle Farooqi, remind us that many of our best-loved stories that feature animals have engaged children as much as they have intrigued adult readers