The Warrior God – Ayyappa of Sabarimalai by Preetha Rajah Kannan
When I was a little girl, my dad had a client from South India. With time he became a family friend and we frequented pujas at his house, learnt to eat curd rice on a banana leaf and my dad even went on the Sabarimala pilgrimage. But most of all, I remember greeting Acharya’s uncle […]
The Greatest Odia Stories Ever Told, by Leelawati Mohapatra, Paul St-Pierre & K.K Mohapatra
In his preface to the Greatest Odia Stories Ever Told, K.K Mohapatra humbly admits, “It is impossible to convey the richness and variety of a century-old tradition of short story writing within the compass of a single anthology, let alone select the greatest stories ever told.” But as a reader, I can testify to the […]
The Town That Laughed by Manu Bhattathiri
“It was remarked among the chroniclers of Karuthapuzha’s affairs that if God ever made His appearance among us and started to live in this town, after the first round of awe and worship people would begin to joke about Him. We would comment about the ludicrousness of His creations, and maybe talk behind His back […]
Re-reading classics: Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh
I read Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh once every year. I don’t remember when I started this tradition but I seem to have done it through most of my teens, and my entire adult life; and yet, each reading brings with it a new discovery. The Early Years As a teenager reading the book, much […]
unBlock Meetup 105
unBlock Meetup 105 was graced by Shanta Gokhale and her wonderful sense of spirit and humour. A mentor, teacher, guide and critic, Shanta Ma’am gave detailed, on point feedback and tips that enriched the literary capabilities of all the writers present. A horror story, a play adaptation, a short story, an essay and many other […]
Gateway Literature Festival 2020: Sixth Edition
The sixth edition of the Gateway Literature Festival 2020 took place at NCPA, Mumbai on the 14th and 15th of February, 2020. The theme was ‘Indian Literature 2025’; the future of Indian Literature discussed by a mix of writers, poets, editors and professors of the Indian diaspora. Sindhi, Konkani, Gujurati, Marathi, Tamil, Odia, Telugu, Manipuri, […]
Ba’az of the Bengal Lancers by Uttiyo Bhattacharya
There is a certain romance to historical fiction – an imaginative mind can spend hours on end going from one ‘what if’ scenario to another, to creating heroes and villains who may or may not have lived the lives we write for them. Uttiyo Bhattacharya’s Ba’az of the Bengal Lancers, published by Juggernaut, is set […]
Valentine’s Special: Love stories with a twist
We love love. After all, what is more uplifting, more exalting and more inspiring than this wonderful emotion? But love comes to us in myriad forms, and there exist innumerable love stories that come with a twist. It exists in ways that do not fit the boxes we have created for it. It is sometimes […]
