In Ramnagar, the Folk Theatre of the Ramlila Continues its Centuries-Old Traditions
Photo Essay: Over 250 years since its inception, the Ramlila of Ramnagar—a ‘play’ dramatizing Rama’s story from the Ramcharitmanas—still exists as a faint time capsule of the past. by Karan Madhok
A Civilization and its Stories: Salman Rushdie’s VICTORY CITY
In his latest work, Salman Rushdie expertly flirts with the line between fact and fiction, declaring all living beings—including those reading his book—may be ‘characters’ in a grander historical fiction. When nothing is real, stories are the only reality. By Karan Madhok
The Ever-Moving Wheel: G.N. Devy on the Mahabharata
What is the purpose of the Mahabharata? In his short, succinct volume Mahabharata: The Epic and the Nation, G.N. Devy tackles the biggest questions behind one the greatest epics ever composed. By Karan Madhok
Maha-India: Revisiting the brave complexities of Shashi Tharoor’s The Great Indian Novel
Why Shashi Tharoor’s satirical 1989 masterpiece The Great Indian Novel—which married India’s recent history with The Mahabharata—is as relevant as ever in today’s polarising times. - by Atulya Pathak
Bena Sareen, winner of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize, speaks about her latest honour and the “huge responsibility” of designing a memorable literary cover. By Chittajit Mitra