Literary awards from 2020: A List
The Indian literary canon has a plethora of titles from across regions, cultures and languages and since we are always on a hunt of books from different states, literary awards like the following make it slightly easier for us to tap on regional literature. Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020 “The winner of Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020 is The […]
Go beyond the clichéd north Indian village
Authors Luc Leruth with Jean Dreze bring the outsiders’ perspective into this story of learning and unlearning about life, society, culture, and more in rural north India. Fiction often allows subject specialists to explore ideas and topics in inventive ways, far removed from the restrictions that research papers ask for. Many talk about taking the […]
Mythology re-read in The Palace of Illusions
A Palace of Illusions is a reimagining of the world-famous Indian epic, the Mahabharata —told from the perspective of an astonishing woman, Draupadi. Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to a time that is a wholly magical, half myth, and a half history. The novel explores princess Panchaali’s world, starting with […]
How Bookstagram Has Affected My Reading
#Bookstagram happens to be one of the most dedicated communities to reading and books. It is that corner of social media which book nerds, readers, booklovers and book hoarders are known to frequent. I joined the bookstagram bandwagon almost two years ago and have been an avid member of the community ever since. And looking […]
ইরফান (Irfan) by Suvankar Ghosh Roy Chowdhury
ইরফান লেখক: শুভঙ্কর ঘোষ রায় চৌধুরী ঋত প্রকাশন মূল্য: ১০০ “কাশী জায়গাটাই এমন, দুঃখে কাঁদায় না, সুখে হাসায় না।” ইরফান কে এই ইরফান? সে কি এক রক্ত মাংসের ব্যক্তি নাকি এক চিরন্তন অনুভব যে কিনা মনিকর্ণিকার গহ্বরে থাকে — সেই মনিকর্নিকা, যেখানে এই বিশ্বের সৃষ্টি ও ধ্বংস এক হয়ে মিলে গিয়েছে? আমার কাছে ইরফান এক […]
Ep. 30: The Story of India’s Most Popular Prayer with Venkatesh Parthasarthy
An appeal to the Lord to arise and save the world, the Venkatesa Suprabhatam is the first of four recitations that are sung together every morning in the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, where it was originally sung. Prativadi Bhayankaram Anna, who composed this prayer in the fifteenth century, was a saint, a poet and […]
Finding home in literature: Indian diasporic fiction
Even before translation and robust marketing was the order of the day, Indian diasporic writers have put Indian stories on the map of world literature. Salman Rushdie, Bharati Mukherjee, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Vikram Seth, Vikram Chandra, Aravind Adiga, Jeet Thayil, Jhumpa Lahiri, have penned unforgettable stories over the last few decades. By defintion, diasporic […]
Girl made of Gold by Geetanjali Kolanad
What could a man do when even Gods were helpless and drunk with desire, a desire that Devadasis were adept at kindling and keeping ablaze in the bodies of men who sought them? Amrapali declared as a nagarvadhu, is the earliest known devadasi in recorded history. Dedicated to a temple, married to its deity, devadasis […]
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 […]
Ep. 29: Farm Income: Myths and Realities with Prof. Narayanamoorthy
The Green Revolution resulted in spectacular advancements in Indian agriculture. Having achieved food security for its citizens, the country has now become a net exporter of different agricultural commodities. But sadly, this does not reflect the real state of the Indian agricultural sector. In truth, our farmers are plagued by crop failures, poor income, and […]
