Culture

In ‘Agra’, a grim portrait of the repressed Indian man

Director Kanu Behl’s Hindi feature film examines the sexual obsession and frustration of men, mental health and the transactional nature of human relationships in a patriarchal society where space is in short supply

| May 30, 2023

“I write with the same hands that carried shit”: Reading Pandiyakannan’s ‘Salavaan’

The Tamil writer Pandiyakannan, the first novelist from the Kuravar community, offers an intimate portrait of the lives of manual scavengers

| May 25, 2023

“Yes, our son is gay”: A Nepali father’s awakening

A path-breaking personal essay calling for social acceptance and full rights for Nepal’s LGBTIQ+ community

How agrarian utopianism shapes Sri Lanka

The idealised "village" was at the core of the people’s struggle last year. As a fundamental of Sri Lankan nationalist thought, agrarian utopianism helps to explain the country’s past and imagine a different future.

| Apr 17, 2023

Languages of the islanders in Southasia: Part 1

Linguistic diversity and study of endangered languages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Southasia can help our understanding of human history, cognition and the natural world

| Apr 14, 2023

Screen Southasia: Q&A session with the filmmaker Kesang Tseten

A conversation with the filmmaker Kesang Tseten, director of 'Hami Kunako Manche' (We Corner People)

| Apr 12, 2023

Meena Kandasamy’s feminist intervention on the Tirukkural

The unparalleled Tamil classic’s third part, covering desire, was long overlooked, but Kandasamy’s new translation looks precisely at it to challenge convention

| Apr 11, 2023

Canadian-Tamil comedian Sunthar V navigates queerness and Tamil identity

Sunthar V, founder of the Tamil Comedy Club in central London, attempts to push social boundaries with his comedy in Chennai

| Mar 27, 2023

Delhi’s longest-running play reflects the changing city

The shape-shifting ‘Ghalib in New Delhi’ captures 26 years of sociopolitical change in Delhi and beyond

| Mar 24, 2023

The secrets of ‘All That Breathes’

Shaunak Sen’s Oscar-nominated documentary looks at Muslim brothers caring for kites in Delhi, but also carries a veiled message on religious hatred in Modi’s India

| Mar 11, 2023

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Latest Articles

In Mizoram, a refugee crisis highlights Mizo tribal affinities and hostility

Shared Zo identity has Mizos extending hospitality to Chin and Kuki-Chin refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh. More remarkable is that Chakmas, mistreated by the Mizo majority in Mizoram, have welcomed Kuki-Chin refugees too

In ‘Agra’, a grim portrait of the repressed Indian man

Director Kanu Behl’s Hindi feature film examines the sexual obsession and frustration of men, mental health and the transactional nature of human relationships in a patriarchal society where space is in short supply

When neoliberalism came to the Indian farm

With a focus on agricultural policy since the 1990s, 'Distress in the Fields' demonstrates how neoliberal interventions sowed the seeds of the crisis faced by farmers today