Why is Modi only a symptom of a disease? Writes Sayan Bhattacharya sitting on his armchair. Prologue: Once upon a time there was a man, let’s say his name was M, who got through to a prestigious university as an
As we speak, Orwellian forces are creating …and gradually introducing into mainstream society… slippery speech patterns aimed at manufacturing a zeitgeist. Koli Mitra interrogates neoliberalism’s attempt to become the dominant economic philosophy …by manipulating the public imagination. After the Lok
Phrases like ‘identity politics’ ‘caste politics’ and ‘communal politics’ are routinely used to denigrate any effort at acknowledging disadvantaged or marginal communities… Yet the unabashed strategy to consolidate and empower the upper caste Hindu vote bank is not only exempted
Coffee means a lot of things to a lot of people: a shot of energy, a family tradition, hospitality, regional heritage, or a caste privilege, for example. Deepa Bhasthi muses on the customs and power-dynamics of the favourite drink of
Why the Genre of AIDS films -with the addition of Ryan Murphy’s latest HBO release- and their themes of love, fear, anger and loss remain relevant to gay and straight audiences alike more than three decades after the epidemic broke
The Kathpulti Colony derives its name from a traditional art practiced in Rajasthan with string puppets. The colony houses puppeteers, dancers, singers, magicians, sculptors, stilt walkers and other practitioners of traditional art forms. There are more than 12 communities living
Ever heard of symbolic voting? Well, there’s a literal version of that, whose impact is much more than mere symbolic. We are talking, of course, about political party symbols. This election season, we thought we would pique your interest with
Kolkata witnessed its first Beef Festival in April last year at an academic space but it went largely unmarked, without any newspaper reports or sensational controversies. The uber cool Bengali middle class which flaunts its progressivism by gobbling plate after
All over South Asia, the rising tide of majoritarian nationalisms is threatening the rights of minorities and dissenters… Dibyesh Anand points out how the threat is even more fundamental, in that it strikes against the very idea of democracy. Plurality
A tribute and an introduction (for those of us who may need it), to the late, great, evergreen K.P. Poornachandra Tejaswi by Deepa Bhasthi. “I have seen people who talk about the rain.” And so on and so on. About