Culture

A crowd of people at a rally in San Francisco holding signs against anti-Asian hate. Two people in the foreground wear masks and sunglasses while holding placards that read '#Stop Asian Hate'. Other participants hold similar signs, including ones saying 'Justice for Vicha'.
Culture
Vidyan Ravinthiran’s bold take on otherness and “Asian” diaspora identity
By
Meena Venkataramanan
A fellow Tamil-descent immigrant writer reflects on the Sri Lankan-British poet Vidyan Ravinthiran’s memoir ‘Asian/Other’, exploring the porousness of identity in the Southasian diaspora and the chall ...
A yellow taxi drives along a street in Kolkata decorated with colourful Bengali messages painted on the asphalt for International Mother Language Day 2025. The messages are written in white and red paint, surrounded by other road markings. Other vehicles are visible in the background, and the roadside is lined with trees and a blue railing adorned with colourful flags.
Culture
The making of Shabdakalpa, a pioneering historical dictionary of Bengali
By
Ankush Pal
The ambitious Shabdakalpa project, launching in 2028, aims to map the history of every Bengali word in digital form, preserving cultural memory and inspiring future Southasian language initiatives
A lively crowd of people from the Oraon community in Purnea celebrates the spring festival of Sarhul. Men and women link arms and dance in traditional attire, with women in colourful sarees smiling and moving energetically, while others watch in the background. The atmosphere is festive and joyful.
Culture
How Annie Ernaux’s story parallels the struggles of local languages in Bihar
By
Hugo Ribadeau Dumas
What France’s vanishing dialects reveal about language politics in India, and how pride and shame shape Bihar’s tongues amid the dominance of Hindi and English
A still from the Hindi blockbuster Sholay, starring Dharmendra (left) and Amitabh Bachchan (right). As the film turns 50, it remains emblematic of an India that was aware of but did not confront its deep social schisms, which have since fragmented its citizenry.
Culture
Fifty years on, Sholay’s triumphs and flaws echo through Hindi cinema and Indian society
By
Anna M M Vetticad
The 1975 Hindi blockbuster Sholay now unwittingly underlines the degradation of India’s landscape over the last five decades and the representation of gender, caste and Muslims in Bollywood
A group of men gathered at a theatre event. At the centre, Swadesh Deepak, wearing a white shawl and brown trousers, smiles warmly while shaking hands with a man in a striped shirt and jeans. Another man in a white shirt and blue jeans stands nearby, applauding. A few actors in military uniforms and casual clothes stand in the background, also clapping.
Culture
Searching for Swadesh Deepak in Hindi literature
By
Kinshuk Gupta
Two new translations recall the lasting legacy of the Hindi playwright Swadesh Deepak, who disappeared in 2006 but whose critique of power in India remains prescient
A young Anupam Debashish Roy with his paternal grandmother and aunt. They were among members of his family who adopted Brahmin myths and names to pursue reading and education, practices once considered taboo for people from the Namasudra caste.
Culture
My “Namasudra Brahmin” family’s quest for caste dignity in Bangladesh
By
Anupam Debashis Roy
A memoir of one Dalit family’s mythological and actual battles against caste discrimination and religious prejudice in Bangladesh, East Pakistan and colonial Bengal
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