Essays
Battle of Bhadu
Mimlu Sen
In a prison in Calcutta, Mimlu Sen learns the meaning of ‘bhadu’, the season of scarcity. But Bhadu is also a deity of hope, one that gives uneducated, imprisoned women the strength to carry on. And one that her rebel comrades could not comprehend
Voices from Colonial India
The records of India’s first and only Linguistic Survey, conducted by the British Raj over 1914-29, are now up on the net, thanks to an impatient history professor
The American with a Marathi Aai
She had heard chilling tales of the Indian monster-in-law even in the US. So she practised her Marathi diligently when it was time to meet hers. They got laughing in the first three minutes, and they still are, says Amanda
The Princess of Arts
The youngest daughter of Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh of Manipur, Binodini Devi, was a feisty beauty who authored the first recognised Manipuri short story, wrote the script for a film that won the Grand Prix at Cannes, and took Manipuri dance to the world. Yet astonishingly little survives of her work on record
A Man of Leisure
Unemployment, especially without vital assets like breasts and long legs is a great vantage point to find out who still has the time of day to talk to you
Even Gods Must Die
Like children listening to tales of kings and queens, my sister and I would listen wide-eyed to stories of the flamboyant Panditji who sang with great relish and complete abandon. We competed fiercely for standing rights in the wings of the stage when God came down to perform, remembers Shubha Mudgal
The Professional Sex Writer
All eyes turn to her at parties, her husband thinks she writes porn and her friends expect her to diagnose what’s wrong with their husbands. This, Sandhya Mulchandani says, is what happens when you know stuff like the Sanskrit word for the G-spot
Nowhere Girl
At the age of five, Sara Rahbar fled the Islamic revolution in Iran, walking through knee-deep snow and hiding in caves. Years later, she returned, only to realise that we are all in exile in a way
The Definitive Guide to Detectives
Crime fiction aficionado Zac O’Yeah on why neat-and-clean armchair sleuths like Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple are just not as much fun as down-and-dirty alley skulks like Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade
The Man Who Doesn’t Ask for Money
Money makes him uncomfortable, so Vinod Sreedhar refuses to charge for his workshops. He accepts whatever people want to pay. He trusts the universe to provide for him. Here he is, in his own words
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