P is for Patna: An Alphabet of Hope for my hometown
In a tribute to her hometown, Yashnashree presents an alphabet of hope for Patna, an A-Z from the amaltas to ‘hum’ and from Nalanda to ‘yaari’.
Broken Dawns and Unfinished Nights – Two poems by Mitra Samal
A poem by Mitra Samal: ‘Your poem seemed like a dream / hiding under the warmth of / your breath, in the chillness of winter.’
The Secret Lives of Goan Boys
Short story by Michelle D’costa: ‘A man had overdosed that day. Jude remembers the tattoo on the OD guy’s bicep: A dragon spitting fire which held three symbols, Om, a cross, and a star cradled in a crescent moon.’
A Century of Artistic Synthesis and Reinterpretations
At Bengaluru’s gallery g, an exhibition of India’s artistic century journey from 1850 to 1950 presents a complex synthesis, resulting from the cross-pollination of old and new, Indian and European, traditional and innovative. By Bindu Gopal Rao
Sightseeing
Short story by Asha Jyothi: ‘I don’t know what in the world I was thinking, but I look directly at him, and he holds my gaze, and looks at my naked teeth. “Pyar kiya, koi chori nahi ki.” I have loved, not committed a theft.’
The Best of 2022 - What’s The Chakkar?
What’s The Chakkar? Episode 25: This special end-of-year episode features our favourites of 2022, including books by Josy Joseph and Maggie O’Farrell; music by The Anirudh Varma Collective; and the second season of Panchayat. Featuring Shaista Vaishnav, Anurag Tagat, and Prateek Santram. Hosted by Karan Madhok
Look at the bare back
A poem by Sonali Chanda: ‘The mystery still remains / in the petals of marigolds, / in the peels of oranges that I kept / the mysteries living in me.’
A Poetic Clarion Call to the Feminine Presence—Nabina Das’ ‘Anima’
In a series of poignant poems from Anima: & the Narrative Limits, Nabina Das personifies the feminine energy of ‘Anima’—as she tells stories, observes the social fabric of humanity, poses questions to history, and explains the world through her perspective. By Karan Madhok
Solemn Thoughts
A poem by Sayani Mukherjee: ‘Bring back solemn thoughts / Night’s carpe diem of mahogany sighs’
Like Sullied Water
Short story by Mehreen Ahmed: ‘As soon as she stepped out of the cubicle, the ‘ghost’ disappeared. Perhaps, it was an optical illusion. Like a rainbow where people saw only the colours, not the water particles behind the veil.’
On the Crossroads of Art and Spirituality
Inspired by her visit to monasteries in Ladakh, to the ghats of Ganga at Varanasi, Kedarnath, temples of south India, Kanheri caves at Mumbai and more, artist Shruti Goenka created a series of artworks peppered with elements of spirituality in the series “Antarman—A Journey Within”. By Bindu Gopal Rao
Short story by Debi Mukherjee: “Unlike the little girls I see outside temples, draped in their pano bhaju’s stringing garlands of Marigolds, I dare not play with the flowers in our garden. Papa cautions me against the rows of Mogras, Shoe-flowers, Frangipanis and a multitude of others. He says that I must not be lured by a flower’s fragrance.”