Essays

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 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

The Abbey Road to Rishikesh

Bill Harry

India had a tremendous influence on the Beatles and their music. Many a song came about just hanging around the Maharishi’s ashram at Rishikesh. So the Beatles’ double album is really a hymn to India

Happy Birthday, Asterix!

Shovon Chowdhury

At the banquet to celebrate their 50th anniversary, his tummy bursting with boar and ears straining to drown out Cacofonix, a fan tries to remember exactly why he loves these Gallic warriors.

Mr Creepy Crawly

Varad Giri

Disappearing for days into the Western Ghats, this man looks under rocks, sifts through piles of leaves and generally gets his hands quite dirty looking to discover new species of amphibians and reptiles. In fact herpetologist Varad Giri is a pretty rare creature himself: a researcher who can’t have enough of the creepy crawlies