By Chandramohan S
The other is where they shun you for using art as activism, for turning poems into propaganda. The literary community is very neoliberal like that, it’s a market, they’ll sell whatever can get sold. For everything else, there’s the master card. Then they tell you what qualifies as poetry and what doesn’t, and if they’re gonna let you in to the academy or not.
By Abhinay Dey
The place is called Ghoom, right? They wouldn’t have given the name unless it had something to do with sleep, my little self reasoned hopefully as I promised myself to build a house there when I grow up.
By Srirupa Dhar
Rik is overtaken by the uncanny resemblances between the boy and himself. The idea of throwing up vanishes from Rik’s mind. Rik stares at his doppelganger – his own smiling eyes, thin nose, small, pointy ears, and cordate chin – who seems to say: “See yourself”.
By Rimli Bhattacharya
In 1960, she featured in Ritwik Ghatak’s iconic movie, Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud Capped Star), where she plays the heart tugging role of Neeta, the sole earning member of an uprooted refugee family during the Partition of India. As she is admitted to a sanatorium because of consumption, she tells her jobless elder brother, who dreams to be a singer and with whom she shares a unique bond, that she wants to live. This movie was based on an eponymous Bengali novel by Shaktipada Rajguru.
By M Ghazali Khan
Only time will tell whether the brave judges taking a principled stand will be supported by fellow judges and lawyers in protecting the independence, sanctity and reputation of this hitherto highly respectable institution of India. The fact, however, is that if the filth of sectarian hatred is allowed to defile the sanctity of this great institution the worst victims of it will be religious minorities, specially the Muslims, and marginalised communities.
By Ananya S Guha
Our minister takes an extreme position. His is not a view that some mightn’t believe in the theory of evolution. He wants an outright rejection of Darwin. It is difficult to believe that the concerned minister is a doctoral degree holder. Our ministers seem to have a predilection for making sensational statements. The whole idea is to reject scientific temper, one of the cornerstones of our constitution.
By Yuan Changming
Hesitantly, the snowflakes keep
Swinging around until their final fall
To the ground, in thickening stillness
By Sadiq Zafar
A procession of Dalits was attacked by a group of upper caste men in Bhima-Koregaon, Maharashtra. In UP’s Muzaffarnagar, a Dalit was beaten and forced to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’. On any given day, a few news anchors reveal a new geographical setting, where a Dalit has been subjected to violence, threat or abuse. Many a time, such incidents are filmed by the abusers and circulated over social media, which becomes the news later.
By Suranjana Choudhury
Dismas Bambai working with Indian Angle, a seedy news agency in New York, plays the interviewer, interlocutor, interrupter in Newton’s life. Newton Xavier is his subject. Through this venture, Dismas both creates and disrupts fictional illusions. He accumulates Newton’s childhood, his growth as an artist, his obsessive association with suicide, his whims and his desires.
By Rimli Bhattacharya
As we celebrate her birthday, I would like to remember her as a true feminist icon. She was fearless and courageous. Her work spoke on her behalf. Let us all follow the path paved by Mahasweta Devi by fighting for our rights. Mahasweta Devi shines her light on us and we all are Nirbhayas, the fearless.
By Rimli Bhattacharya
I got my first dose from Sofia; she has similar pain. So we are best friends and I love her. I want to marry her. I want to be a song writer, a rock star. I called you a bitch, slut, I am sorry. I don’t want to go abroad. I am tired. I need love, to be loved.
By M Abdul Fathah
At odds with the prevailing traditional institutes and liberal initiatives, Markaz went for an innovative blending of traditional wisdom and modern trends. Markaz Boarding and Hifdhul Quran College, which was built in 1986, embarked on this particular journey.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 