The Truth was at Warner Bros
By Vivaan Shah
It seems evident to me at least in metaphorical terms that if Disney represented splendor, MGM glamour, Paramount pomp, Universal the circling globe, then the truth was at Warner Bros!
Three Non-sanskaari Poems
By Namrata Pathak
We don’t discuss 377 in office hours.
Not over notices and agendas,
clueless meetings, one after the other.
Of Patanjali, Saint Sankardev and the Infuriated “Assamese”
By Daisy Barman
We need to remember, however, the ignorance and hypocrisy of the Assamese who should have shown outrage and protested centuries ago. Sankardev’s egalitarian principles have been under attack since his demise in 1568 AD, not by the supposed “outsiders”, but by his own people.
Telliscope: Our collective necrophilia
By Ashley Tellis
Migrant labourers build the cities and towns we live in, clean the garbage we produce and survive on the less than minimum wage they earn, living away from their homes where they cannot even produce enough to survive, which is why they become migrant labour, and for their pains we turn on them and hound them out of cities and towns.
Dr. Jack Ryan, CIA, as a guide to understanding global conflict
By MK Raghavendra
Jack Ryan is to the CIA what James Bond was to Britain’s MI 6. Where the marginalization of Britain in the new millennium makes James Bond more a sex symbol than an interpretable global symptom, Jack Ryan is the spy of the moment. The arrival of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan as a television series on Amazon Prime Video is therefore a matter of some political importance.
Two Poems
By Ruhail Andrabi
Cold dawn plays the trumpets of melancholy;
It cacophonously echoes in the chambers of innocence,
And gulps the peaceful silence of heart.
Poetry: Salted mud cakes
By Prithvijeet Sinha
Environment is coughed up again at the nearest rally,
its syllables have been buried in the land granted to city’s building giant,
while Grandpa lost his hearing aid and the environment became an abstract in isolation.
Film Review: ‘Varathan’: A Dark survival thriller cloaked as poetry on reel
By Jinju S.
Varathan is indeed poetry on reel with a timely message for society and a must-watch.
Will Bollywood allow a #MeToo movement?
By Kouser Fathima
When Parveen Babi spoke against Amitabh Bachchan, she was labelled delusional. Mamta Kulkarni’s promising career ended abruptly when she spoke against Rajkumar Santoshi. A foreign model’s accusations against Subhash Ghai ruffled many feathers. Madhur Bhandarkar was accused of false promise of marriage and lead role in return of sexual favours by Preeti Jain.
Short Story: Arrival
By Debarshi Mitra
She kept gazing at platforms outside while the ‘Rajdhani’ sped past them, past the paddy fields and the temples, the streets and the factories, the garbage piles and impoverished men in decrepit houses. I did little to break the spell of silence.
A conversation with poet and activist, Jhilmil Breckenridge
By Poornima Laxmeshwar
Jhilmil Breckenridge is a poet, writer, and activist. She is the founder of Bhor Foundation, a mental health charity. Her areas of work are mental health, domestic violence, and trauma. Jhilimil is currently working on a PhD in the UK, and Reclamation Song is her first book of poetry. Here is a conversation with her.
The Body as an Oral Text: A review of Teresa Rehman’s ‘The Mothers of Manipur’
By Sabreen Ahmed
The Mothers of Manipur, written by noted journalist from North-east India, Teresa Rehman, is a testimony to the provocatively progressive culture of activism and gendered social organization of the Meira Paibis of Manipur, woven through the anecdotes of their oral narratives.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 