Culture & Heritage
7 min read
12

Book Review: ‘Toward Eternity’ sees Celebrated Translator Anton Hur Coming into his Own As a Writer

November 21, 2024
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In physics, singularity is the point where known physical laws break down and predictions become impossible. The Big Bang theory suggests our universe emerged from such a singularity. That is an infinitely dense, hot point which expanded and cooled. At this moment, conventional concepts of time and space lose meaning.

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Culture & Heritage
4 min read
13

Uma Dasgupta, Iconic Child Actor of Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’, Dies at 83

November 20, 2024
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A young Uma Dasgupta in Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement One important aspect of Satyajit Ray’s great craft was that he would not begin a project until he had the right faces for the characters of his film. He was stuck while preparing for his masterpiece, Pather

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Culture & Heritage
5 min read
42

Booker Prize 2024: British Writer Samantha Harvey Wins For Space Novel ‘Orbital’

November 13, 2024
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Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy and her book Orbital after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, on November 12, 2024.  | Photo Credit: AP British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on November 12 with Orbital, a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International

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Culture & Heritage
5 min read
34

Manoj Mitra (1938-2014), the Doyen of Bengali Stage and Screen, Passes Away

November 13, 2024
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Manoj Mitra was equally at home writing a hundred plays, teaching philosophy at university, performing in folk theatre or acting with his expressive eyes for Satyajit Ray and Tapan Sinha | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement When Banchharamer Bagaan (The Garden of Banchharam), Tapan Sinha’s dark-comic masterpiece, was released in

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Culture & Heritage
13 min read
45

Why Anti-Hindi Protests Shaped Tamil Politics For 60 Years – And Still Matter Today

November 11, 2024
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The 1960s were a time of student uprisings across the world. Militant socialist students in Europe, especially in France and West Germany, staged protests with the aim of bringing about revolutions in their countries. Anti-war students and “hippies” in the US opposed the military intervention in Vietnam. There were student

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Culture & Heritage
11 min read
52

Quincy Jones Dies at 91: The Producer Who Reshaped Music from Jazz to Pop, Sinatra to Michael Jackson

November 11, 2024
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Sometime around 1944, an 11-year-old boy, growing up motherless and wild in Seattle, broke into a military store to steal some food. Prowling about inside he spotted a piano in the supervisor’s room; he was about to move on, when a childish instinct (which he later referred to as “God’s

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Culture & Heritage
10 min read
52

Actor Vijay’s TVK Party Launch: Star Power Meets Ideological Confusion in Tamil Nadu Politics

November 8, 2024
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When Tamil filmstar “Thalapathy” Vijay, or General Vijay as his fans fondly call him, stepped on to the podium on October 27 to deliver a 45-minute speech, he was greeted by roars and applause in a charged and theatrical event that opened yet another exciting chapter in a State where

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Culture & Heritage
8 min read
64

From People’s Festival to State Spectacle: Delhi’s Phool Walon Ki Sair Loses Its Grassroots Soul

November 2, 2024
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“Phool Walon Ki Sair is not just a festival; it is a testament to Delhi’s Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb,” said Delhi’s Chief Minister Atishi on October 26 speaking at the closing night of the festival at Lodhi-era Jahaz Mahal, Mehrauli. Held on the cusp of winter each year, the Phool Walon Ki

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Culture & Heritage
6 min read
54

Cacophony of Democracy: A Reflection on Safdar Hashmi’s Legacy

October 29, 2024
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Safdar Hashmi in “Aya Chunav”, Janam’s first political play performed in Hissar, Haryana, in 1981.  | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy! The nose is

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Culture & Heritage
8 min read
53

Exploring Love Across Divides: The Complex Lives of Hindu-Muslim Couples in India

October 29, 2024
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What is it like to be a Hindu married to a Muslim or a Muslim married to a Hindu in a country like India where families are deeply involved not only in wedding ceremonies but also in the everyday life of the newlywed couple? Why do they choose to marry

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