Year in review: Ten great Southasian culture stories of 2024

From Afghan refugees’ stories of food to Pakistanis’ unique relationship with Shah Rukh Khan, we at Himal Southasian take a look back at some of our most-read stories on culture for 2024.Here's our selection, in no particular order:.How Shah Rukh Khan’s spell over Pakistan was broken.Even as Shah Rukh Khan’s global acclaim soared in 2023, the impact of his dramatic return to the screen after a self-imposed break of four years was notably muted in Pakistan. Rafay Mahmood writes on how the conditions that created Pakistanis’ unique relationship with the Bollywood star no longer exist, and they are so mired in political and economic turmoil that even his cinematic offerings provide no respite. .China’s long but stuttering history of studying Southasia.China’s long history of studying Southasia, first through India and then other parts of the Subcontinent too, has not fostered deep inter-connections even though Chinese history and culture did not develop in complete isolation from Southasia, as is evident in many significant cultural exchanges across the Himalaya. Chinese scholars have critically examined Southasian languages and literature for decades, and more recently have looked towards the region for its own economic development. Yet, too many scholars of Southasia in China rely on second-hand research, leading to a recycling of theories and arguments instead of creating new paths in the understanding of the region in all its complexity. Aneka Rebecca Rajbhandari and Raunab Singh Khatri explore how this has hindered China’s understanding of the region. .The ethical and legal violations of the Oscar-nominated ‘To Kill a Tiger’.When the Canadian production To Kill a Tiger was listed among this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Documentary Feature, it aroused considerable curiosity in India. The filmmaker, Nisha Pahuja, is a Canadian of Indian origin, whose work is dominated by India-related themes. The film’s real-life story is set in the state of Jharkhand, in eastern India, and follows a father’s fight for justice after his 13-year-old daughter was gang-raped in 2017. The film critic Anna M M Vetticad’s essay on the documentary unpacks how the film’s reckless approach violates India’s Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and various ethical standards even as it chronicles a family’s fight for justice. .Readers like you make stories like these possible. Become a Patron to support Himal!.The devastating poetry of Tamil women who fought in Sri Lanka’s civil war.In exile from Sri Lanka and marginalised abroad, women who once fought in the country’s civil war are almost completely silenced – but through poetry some have found a way to speak out, to remember, to protest, to mourn and to heal. With a selection of their poems translated from Tamil by Shash Trevett, Frances Harrison writes about how these women are reclaiming an identity that has been systematically stripped from them by defeat, detention and dislocation from their homeland. .Trekking while Nepali: A writer reckons with mortality, nationality and a changing Nepal.“I thought of my brother and sister in the elements of the universe. I’d be in the elements too one day – I already was, at the ultimate level. My present form was ever-changing and essentially empty. I understood that I, like everything, was impermanent. But that was high philosophy.” In a deeply personal essay, the writer Manjushree Thapa reflects on themes of loss, mortality and national identity during a challenging trek to Mount Makalu base camp in eastern Nepal. .The Weed Woman: How a sharp-tongued refugee made a forest of the Bangla language.How did a middle-aged Bangladeshi refugee, abandoned by her husband and, later, her own family, come to have a profound effect on teenage children in a small town in sub-Himalayan Indian Bengal?The author Sumana Roy shares a personal story of growing up around Maya-mashi, the woman who came to make a home and work as a domestic helper for her family, and her unique usage and expressions of botanical idioms and proverbs in her everyday language. .The Himalayan graveyard of starchitecture in Nepal.Four renowned architects – Rem Koolhaas, Louis I Kahn, Tadao Ando and Shigeru Ban – are celebrated for a wide array of projects worldwide, but their endeavors in Nepal have barely resonated with the local context and public or created an echo in the architecture community inside or outside the country. Anne Feenstra and Varun S Bapu explore why the starchitects were unable to pull off their Nepal projects and enrich the country with exemplary designs. In this longform piece they argue that if one of the problems was the framing of the assignments by the projects’ patrons, future debacles may be prevented if patrons consult more closely with local experts..Afghan refugees’ stories of food – and home.“When you leave your country as a refugee, what can you take with you? A few objects. Many memories. And recipes.” Afghans, having faced four decades of war and displacement, form one of the largest refugee communities in the world. For this massive diaspora, Afghan food offers sustenance in more ways than one. Taran N Khan looks at how in sharing narratives about food and belonging for a writing workshop, Afghans living in Delhi preserve and construct ideas of home – both the remembered home lost to war in Afghanistan, and the home of refuge they are building in India. .Para athletes are elite competitors – not tragic or inspirational caricatures.In September this year, Deepthi Jeevanji, India’s first athlete with an intellectual disability to compete in the Paralympic Games, won the bronze medal in the women’s 400-metre race. Indian news publications tracking the games ran headlines about her win and quick takes about how she overcame her disability to attain sporting success. Priti Salian writes that in recent years, media coverage of the Paralympics has generally seen some improvement, driven by advocacy for greater inclusion. But reporting in India often remains stereotypical and insufficient. Many stories depict disabled athletes as “superhumans” who have “overcome” their disabilities to succeed. This narrative reinforces the misconception that anyone can overcome a disability through sheer effort and misrepresents the realities of Paralympians and other people living with disabilities. Praising Paralympians for overcoming disabilities to simply participate in sports diminishes their athletic achievements. The regressive victim-hero dichotomies found in news coverage of the Paralympic Games in India need an immediate overhaul. .Cricketing rivalry with India can transform Australia’s view of Southasia – and of itself.India and Australia have drawn close during these past decades geopolitically, economically, and – through migration – culturally. However, for the average Australian, opening up to Southasia has been a slow, incomplete business. The cricket writer Benjamin Golby explains how the five-Test Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia matters far beyond cricket alone and can update Australian views of Southasia and the Southasian diaspora – if the country cares to pay attention.