Why Millennials and Gen Z Swear by Sally Rooney
In one of the early chapters of Sally Rooney’s new novel, Intermezzo, the protagonist, Ivan, a 22-year-old chess player, invites Margaret, a 36-year-old programme director at the arts centre hosting an amateur chess tournament-cum-workshop, to the house where he has been put up by the organisers. As Margaret weighs in her
Book Review: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ New Book Reminds America of its Complicity in the Ongoing Massacre in Palestine
Outgoing US President Joe Biden with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York, on September 20, 2023. | Photo Credit: Susan Walsh/AP As demonstrated by Between the World and Me, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2015 and is a must-read for anyone who wants to
Epic Cop-Out: The Flawed Heroism of Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again
The rot at the heart of Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again is not what you think it is. It is not the tired plotting, the exhausted acting, the cameos that stack up like a house of cards that should have toppled tiers ago, the repetitive direction, or even the forceful, joyless retracing of
Why Anti-Hindi Protests Shaped Tamil Politics For 60 Years – And Still Matter Today
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
Quincy Jones Dies at 91: The Producer Who Reshaped Music from Jazz to Pop, Sinatra to Michael Jackson
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
Shibpur Botanical Garden Crisis: Great Banyan Tree, Heritage Under Threat from Climate Change, Urban Sprawl
On October 25, the severe cyclonic storm Dana struck the eastern coast of India, bringing torrential rain and high-velocity winds that uprooted trees and electric poles in Odisha and West Bengal. It brought back memories of Cyclone Amphan, which caused massive damage in 2020. West Bengal’s Shibpur botanical garden, one
Actor Vijay’s TVK Party Launch: Star Power Meets Ideological Confusion in Tamil Nadu Politics
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
From People’s Festival to State Spectacle: Delhi’s Phool Walon Ki Sair Loses Its Grassroots Soul
“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
Cacophony of Democracy: A Reflection on Safdar Hashmi’s Legacy
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
How Private Archives are Making Indian History More Accessible and Inclusive
It was research for my historical novel, Wanderers, All, that led me to the police headquarters in Mumbai. My enquiry about the Bombay Police Gazette from 1911, among other information, was met with a blank stare. A helpful constable then led me to the in-house library that comprised a large