What’s The Chakkar? Episode 9: We’re watching Ray; listening to Irfana & Taslina; reading Albert Camus and Anthony Doerr. Featuring Prateek Santram, Anurag Tagat, and Shaista Vaishnav. Hosted by Karan Madhok.

In India, our approach and understanding of mental health concerns are often further complicated by the historical weight of the caste-system and a yearning for cultural ‘purity’. By Sadaf Vidha

In his 1938 book, author Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’ memorialised the life of his friend Kulli Bhaat. While positioned as a progressive text, Nirala only ends up misrepresenting Bhaat. Saurabh Sharma analyses the text from its recent English translation A Life Misspent.

Golchakkar Series - The July panel of our virtual literary talk features Shelly Bhoil and Abhay K.: Dispatches from Latin America.

Short story by Ramzauva Chhakchhuak: ‘People in the neighborhood didn’t even care if Bala was looking straight at them. It was as if he didn’t exist.’

“It’s all about building counter-culture—and skateboarding is counter-culture.” Wheeled Wings directors Divy Bhagia and Aayush Dudhiya discuss the making of their short documentary, where skateboarding became the vehicle to break barriers of caste, gender, and education. - By Deekshith Pai

A poem by Karan Madhok: ‘there are a million other things / you could do besides breathing / the outside air, / asbestos and apathy / make a heady cocktail’

In Amit Masurkar’s man-versus-wild thriller Sherni (2021), a disturbed tigress is on the loose, spreading alarm and fear. But, with critiques of industrialisation, politics, and greed, the film is instead a mirror reflecting the wilder side of humanity itself. By Nidhi Choksi Dhakan.

In the foreground of young death, the Sanya Malhotra starrer Pagglait (2021) presents a woman unwilling to become the meek, submissive picture of a suffering widow, instead finding an unusual ally to help her navigate inner conflict and chaos. By Harshita Murarka

Six poems by John Copley Alter: ‘Three ages ago you were / wrestling with mortality, my brother. / Today you are open in my mind like / a score of music, a keyboard, waiting.’

With coming-of-age series Aspirants, streaming platform The Viral Fever continue to tell stories close to the heart of the Indian youth, serving as an evolving meme of our times. By Raunaq Saraswat

Through a selected, personal exploration—from Ismat Chughtai to “Ugra”, Jerry Pinto to Megha Majumdar and more—Saurabh Sharma traces the evolution of queer narratives in Indian fiction.