a boy who lost an eye
Personal Essay by multidisciplinary artist Ravi Modi: ‘Truth, I came to realise, is fluid, shapeshifting, dusty, incomplete. It never arrives whole. It gathers slowly, the way vision does, through fragments and adjustments. Much like my own sight, truth is always in the process of becoming.’
Could AI usher in the advent of Universal Basic Income for India?
As the promises and threats of artificial intelligence signal a radical economic and social upheaval worldwide, Vipin Labroo argues why India may need to consider a fanciful UBI programme.
A Call for a Postcolonial Education Revolution
In The Amateur (2024), Saikat Majumdar explores education, humanity, and inclusivity from different perspectives to highlight the major flaws of colonial education. The book asks for intensive correction in institutions and in the people’s psyche. By Kabir Deb
In the Second RAAT AKELI HAI, the Genre Reaches its Saturation Point
The crimes are bigger and bloodier in Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders, and the motives even messier; but at its core, the film is a hollow reproduction of its genre predecessors, a familiar formula traced into an inferior product. By Karan Madhok
Red Streaks on the Silver Screen
Through films like Viduthalai, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Virata Parvam, and more, Marnina (Avirup) explores how portrayals of the Naxalite Movement in Indian cinema confront the many under-represented fractures of our democracy.
Kutch Express
Personal Essay by Kinjal Sethia: ‘Some lanterns burned outside this huddle of bhajans and stories. As kids, we kept close to the elders. It would be hauntingly dark outside this circle, and we pretended to conjure witches waiting in the inner rooms or imagined that the screech of the fruit bats was the call of the spirits.’
HOMEBOUND, SABAR BONDA, and the Immeasurable Burden of One’s Roots
Through sensitive character studies and relationships, Homebound and Sabar Bonda pose urgent questions about migration and the life-altering distances between the metro and the village. By Sarthak Parashar
The Politics of Female Longing in Fire and “Lihaaf”
In the art of filmmaker Deepa Mehta and writer Ismat Chughtai, Farah Ahamed explores themes of patriarchy, infidelity, and a testament to the desires of women.
The Lunar Learning
Personal Essay: Who has access to knowledge? Ph.D. scholar Swathi Priya explores how multidisciplinary lenses of caste inclusion, neoliberal market, liberal ideology, mental health imperatives, and literature inform her larger research goals.
The City That Remains: Guwahati, and the Poetry it Inspires
Through memories, juxtapositions, and observations of the intricate, the poems about Guwahati in The Penguin Book of Poems on the Indian City (2025) portray a city that no longer exists, having metamorphosed into a new ‘synthetic’ space marred by politics and reckless urbanisation. By Ayaan Halder
Beneath the Golden Dome: Gurpurab in the Capital
Photo Essay: From the historic lanes of Chandni Chowk to the healing sarovar of Bangla Sahib, devotees reaffirmed the timeless message of equality, service, and oneness of humanity on Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary. By Aditya Sharma and Sana Kauser
“Revolutionary literature requires revolutionary politics”: An Interview with Meena Kandasamy
Acclaimed author Meena Kandasamy discusses the uncompromising and unapologetic resolve in her writing, confronting violence with art, and why activism is a form of love. By Saurabh Sharma