Essays

Come Back, Elvis

Shovon Chowdhury

Elvis, all ye mortals, was obviously an alien with superpowers. This explains everything, from his remarkable music to the crazy love he inspired. On his 75th year, Open calls for the King to rejoin his people.

My Father, Alyque

Quasar Thakore Padamsee

For years, they met for half an hour daily. Later, it was the lunch slot, a business meeting almost. It took a while to sort it all out, but one holiday and the birth of his sister changed it all. He’s never been much of a dad but Quasar Thakore Padamsee says he couldn’t have asked for a better friend than ‘AP’.

Zen by the Mandovi

Sudeep Chakravarti

One Goa port-soaked afternoon, I signed up for karate lessons and my daughter sniggered. A year later, as I scales walls Crouching Tiger style to save stranded cats, I’m the ‘cool’ dad.

JNU Blues

Rahul Jayaram

The Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi turned 40 last month. But for all its political trappings, the one emotion that defines the forest-surrounded campus is romance—or the lack of it.

The Waterhouse Watershed

Rahaab Allana

In the 1860s, a young officer in the British army in India, called James Waterhouse, compiled one of the most astonishing photographic archives in the world.

Director’s Cut

Mahesh Nair

Making a movie is all about having the patience to endure long intervals. This author has taken eight years, with several abandoned projects in between, to debut as a director in Bollywood.

The Love of Lust

Pascal Bruckner

The so-called sexual revolution has created a generation of braggarts who love to flaunt their sexual prowess. Flip the coin, and what you see is a society of men and women anxious not to be seen as sexual have-nots.

A Feminist Till I Die

Arshia Sattar

The wild hair may have taken on strands of silver and seats may be offered to her on the bus. But Arshia Sattar keeps her sword polished and shining because there’s many a battle to be fought still

Poet of Two Nations

Mahmood Farooqui

Faiz Ahmed Faiz passed on 25 years ago. A chronicle of the life of the Scotch-drinking, globe-trotting, communist, Don Juanesque poster boy of modern Urdu poetry.

Foot Soldier

Jarnail Singh

For 25 years, journalist Jarnail Singh awaited justice for the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Then, something snapped and a shoe flew out towards Home Minister P Chidambaram. He’s lost his job, and regrets hurling the shoe, but certainly not standing up against injustice