religion

Sabyn Javeri: Inside the Veil

Shikha Kumar

The Pakistani author Sabyn Javeri talks about the politics of the hijab and the role of writers in divided societies in a conversation with Shikha Kumar

The Force That Drives Us

Lakshmi Bayi

Love is one of the most important links of society

The Travels of a Deity

Ranjit Hoskote

How a Krishna sect in Rajasthan bridges multiple divides

The Foreigner’s Home

Toni Morrison

To what do we pay greatest allegiance? Family, language group, country, gender? Religion, race? And if none of these matter, are we urbane, cosmopolitan, or simply lonely?

The spiritual is at its most spectacular when sadhus, seers, seekers, nirvana junkies and tourists of religious kitsch descend on Hinduism’s biggest carnival. Aditya Iyer goes to the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj