Ponniyin Selvan: History Come Alive
What’s the greatest Tamil language novel? Don’t be surprised if the most common answer to this question is: Ponniyin Selvan. A cult classic in its own right, this novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy was first serialised in the 1950s in the popular magazine Kalki. In the four years of its publication, it not only contributed to […]
The Best Book Subscriptions for a Bibliophile
The last chain bookstore near my house closed down years ago. Every evening, I would walk to the store, sit on their comfortable couches, and read an entire book while the salespeople glared at me. In their defence, I was a broke school kid who rarely bought anything, so I understand their ire. However, times […]
A guide to feminism by Sindhu Rajasekaran
Smashing the Patriarchy does what a guide to feminism should do; push you to question your own beliefs, your ideologies, and trace how critical theory evolves with time and finds its place in the 21st century. Feminism began as a collective movement centred around legal issues like the right to vote or the right to […]
Five Novellas About Women By Indira Goswami is a must read collection of feminist fiction
Indira Goswami is an Indian Assamese artist. She writes short stories and novels set in different locales of India, which give her readers a taste of life beyond the boundaries of Assam. When taking on the tough social issues of urban life, the harsh lives of labourers, and the plight of widows in Vrindavan and […]
Rucha Chitrodia’s It’s Also About Mynah
Love and loss, heartbreak and healing, regrets and hopes. A mishmash of people and their stories, a coming-of-age tale that is as much about the old mill lands of Mumbai as it is about its residents. It’s Also About Mynah by Rucha Chitrodia (published by Amaryllis) is about a young girl’s abrupt plunge into the […]
A Haunting Saga Set in the Rann of Kutch
A review of Sujata Sabnis’s ‘Blood on the Sands‘ Trigger Warnings: rape, mental illness, death, foeticide Blood on the Sands by Sujata Sabnis is a masterful tale of love, betrayal and death, and the sinister secrets buried in the sands of a small village in the Rann of Kutch, published by Amaryllis. The sand buries […]
Waiting For The Dust To Settle by Veio Pou
In 1947, the new entity known as “India” officially became a sovereign state, gladly relinquishing its former ‘British colony’ status. And that is where the story ends. At least according to most history books. Yet the truth was that the many different cultures and languages that makeup “India” were not completely in favour of joining […]
Drunk Bird Chronicles by Malay Chatterjee
We’ve all read about history in school books: an endless repetition of dry facts and dates, of people with unpronounceable names and long-forgotten titles. Yet history is filled with people who lived and breathed and moved in the background of wars and famines and empires. And it is these people who bring history alive, who lead the […]
Women and Comics in India
“Comic books are one of the most accurate portrayals of the socioeconomic and cultural norms and values of their time,” says comic historian Aarthi Parthasarathy. Taking that into consideration, one can trace the history of feminism, by looking at comics in India and the west. Feminism (read: equality) is a relatively new concept, just about […]
Romance Reads: Trust Me Not by Ankita Verma Datta
In a world where the rich and powerful make underhanded deals with each other and increase their own wealth, young corporate star Reeva falls for the enigmatic and mysterious millionaire Kunaal Kabi. However, when she is drawn into the dirty world of politics, she may learn more about the ‘under-the-table’ deals that run the country […]
