By Mosarrap H. Khan
Black bodies matter as a source of cheap labor in coffee shops, supermarkets, Ikea, and Walmart shopping centers. The white folks make a lot of noise about labor abuse in the Middle East and other parts of the world. I live close to a government apartment block occupied by black folks. If you ask me, it’s nothing but a labor camp in a modern metropolis.
By Joyce Yarrow
Many of the films made by the Flying Birds documented the lives of working artists or were made during field trips throughout the city or holiday celebrations. When, after the screening, a young man presented me with an embroidered portrait of Tagore, I made no attempt to hide my tears of gratitude. Being with the Flying Birds had changed me in ways I knew I had yet to acknowledge.
By EPM Swalih
Akhil Gupta’s study is different from other postcolonial scholars working within a western theoretical framework. He shows a unique way to engage with Euro-American theories. And that is why I began to love his work. His interrogation of the theories of governmentality, biopolitics, and sovereign ban results from his grounding in Mandi district of Western Uttar Pradesh, India. He compels us to think with the Euro-American theories only if we are able to critically approach them. I find his attempts in provincializing Europe[1] as one of the most rewarding tasks ever undertaken by the postcolonial scholars.
By Achyut Dutt
Indian women, those days, didn’t feel sane unless they were battered in some way, even if it was by their own child. Is it perhaps universal with women everywhere? The more you treat a woman like dirt, the more she adores you and thinks you’re cool? I saw this in my own mother as a child and took full advantage of it.
By Bhaswati Ghosh
For someone who did not renounce the worldly life in search of enlightenment, but rather remained in the thick of it, working hard for a living, Kabir, through his defiant and colourful satire, remains a torchbearer for mavericks. He is the wise fellow who stands in the marketplace wishing everyone well, without affirming friendship or enmity with anyone.
By Cafe Dissensus
I could see that Shyam was deeply moved. I could well understand what was passing through his mind. When we left, I said to him: ‘I am a Muslim. Don’t you want to kill me?’ ‘Not now,’ he replied gravely, ‘but while I was listening to them and learning of the atrocities committed by the Muslims, I could have killed you.’
By Safia Begum
Noorani delves into Patel’s daughter, Maniben Patel’s diary for a revealing observation. Maniben writes, “On 21st August, Patel threatened ‘to resign if army was not sent to Hyderabad’”. He also said, “I am very clear in my mind – if we have to fight – Nizam is finished. We cannot keep this ulcer in the heart of the unions.”
By Mosarrap H. Khan
However, engagement with the secular world does not imply abandonment of faith. Rather, Seabrook and Siddiqui’s study illustrates that faith is the most important pivot that makes the dream of transformation feasible. Among the poor Muslims in Calcutta, faith thwarts the seductions of extremism and violence.
By Bhaswati Ghosh
No matter where I live or how big my house is, home will always be this three-room single-story unit. It’s where
Grandfather did his battery of morning exercises in the front yard; it’s where Grandma unburdened herself through writing. On hot summer days just like these, she lay on her stomach on the bare floor—her work desk—with sheets of foolscap strewn before her.
By Mosarrap H. Khan
Humaira’s story is one which is perhaps easy to sell as it stands now: from extreme poverty to success and promise. But this is also a story which had to be scripted before it could even be sold. Humaira believed in her story. If she is now the center of attention and admiration, she has written it painstakingly with the help of her mother.
By Rafikul Islam
The Governor of West Bengal, Shri M.K. Narayanan, inaugutated the festival. This year is Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s 125th Birth Anniversary. The Governor mentioned the important contribution of Maulana to Indian politics. He praised the role played by Maulana in initiating modern education in Independent India.
By Mosarrap H. Khan
Aman Sethi’s A Free Man:A True Story of Life and Death in Delhi, focused on the life of Mohammed Ashraf, is by no means a sociological work. It is a journalistic work that explores the life of one of those thousands of nameless workers who, while contributing significantly to India’s growth story, are often rendered faceless and seen as having no individual subjectivity.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 