Perumal Murugan and Appupen’s graphic adaptation of C S Chellappa’s novella ‘Vaadivaasal’ fails to capture the essence of the original when trying to bring it to a new generation shaped in part by the 2017 jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu
The Malayalam literary giant’s merits and limitations in addressing Kerala’s traditional caste, gender and social hierarchies defined frontiers that other writers must now transcend
This week in Himal
This week, Sohel Sarkar reviews three recent books unpacking the violent roots of caste-based vegetarianism. Sarkar writes that vegetarianism in India continues to be framed
Three new books unpack the violent roots of caste-based vegetarianism and India’s dairy industry as Dalits and Muslims continue to be targeted by cow-protection vigilantes
This week at Himal
This week, Devana Senanayake writes about the fight to decriminalise same-sex relationships in Sri Lanka, following the path of dedicated queer activists who continue to
Uncovering her maternal ancestors’ past rooted in the Bhantu identity, Jafri offers a rare account of the so-called criminal tribe, the circumstances of their conversions and the continuities of caste oppression in India today
Vanya Vaidehi Bhargav’s biography of Lajpat Rai helps trace the Indian freedom fighter’s ideas on nationalism and caste – which, when compared to Gandhi’s, point to the often counterintuitive caste politics of India’s Hindu and “secular” nationalisms
The Indian tennis star who has succeeded despite a dysfunctional sports administration and woeful funding – and Indian tennis is refusing to learn its lessons
In ‘Sahaj Path’ – Rabindranath Tagore’s much-loved work for young readers of Bengali – his views on class, caste and gender are inextricably intertwined with his aesthetics and pedagogy
In ‘The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian’, Neha Dixit studies the past 30 years of inequalities and majoritarianism in urban India through the eyes of a Muslim migrant woman
