From ancient Hindu traditions of retributive violence as well as history of aid and inspiration from abroad, Abhimanyu Kumar explores the complicated associations of our national song with India’s revolutionary movement.

Two recent travel books by Indian women—Taran N. Khan’s Shadow City and Pallavi Aiyar’s Orienting—bring a unique, gendered perspective to the social and cultural complexities of expat life in Afghanistan and Japan. By Nileena Sunil