By Mosarrap H Khan
Mitra’s book depicts the pathos of a deposed king, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who had to leave behind his beloved Lucknow and recreate his dream abode on the banks of the Hooghly in Calcutta (now, Kolkata).
By Rashida Murphy
These poems burrow deep into the heart of landscape and memory. Some of the best ones are laments – as in “the sound of something cracking” and when the “dealers of grief” cannot contain the loss of a homeland.
By Chanis Fernando Boisard
Book Excerpt: From Chanis Fernando Boisard’s ‘The Ayah and Other Stories’.
By Bhaswati Ghosh
She returns to Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s forest-centred novel Aranyak to unearth the mystery of man’s tense relationship with the forest. It is at once a place for finding repose as it is a resource to be exploited. Staying inside a forest all by herself enables Roy to experience the communality of trees, their shunning of individual prominence.
By Karthik Venkatesh
Draupadi is anything but ideal. All fire and brimstone, she rages against the system that put her in terrible situations. Quite unlike Sita who accepts what comes her way with a meekness that is unnerving, Draupadi chooses to speak her mind. An observation that struck me with respect to Draupadi was that young girls are rarely named Draupadi.
By Sameer Khan
He was ashamed that he had obstinately been blaming Jenny for spurning his love and held a grudge against her. On the contrary, she had loved him all those years and had now taken the audacious step because she loved him.
By Sumana Roy
Possessiveness was the other worry. I have been a possessive lover. Plant life, by its very biological nature, does not understand monogamy. Loyalty is an alien concept, adultery an everyday thing. How would I adjust to this new world after years—centuries?—of social conditioning?
By Adil Bhat
In building the narrative around Noor’s character, Mir opens up the window to his mind and thoughts that is both narrow and has complete disregard for the life of a Kashmiri, which appears simplistic from the outside, but is otherwise dense and located in politics. A subjective account of a protracted conflict, Khalid’s book lacks nuance and depth.
By Nivedita N
Unbound: 2000 Years of Indian Women’s Writing showcases what women’s writing means: it is honest, gripping, laced with passion and at times, wry humour. This mammoth collection has eleven categories and includes writing by men and women. The range of the writing involves plays, short stories, and excerpts of novels, nonfiction books, poetry, and essays.
By Kouser Fathima
Literature festivals are the new fad in urban India. However, it seems that these lit fests have very little to do with actual literature. This is what I realised after attending the latest edition of Bangalore Literature Festival.
By Rahul Vaidya
It certainly reminds one of Orwellian dystopia; however, its focus remains limited. Totalitarianism is one logical symptom of the project of modernity itself. Barnes doesn’t try to explore this. His music thus gets lost in the noise of the times that we live in.
By Safia Begum
The work is an outcome of contemporary volatile political situation that compels the author to reflect on the gradual othering of Muslims in India. The work takes us back to a city and time, where the understanding of relations and culture was distinct and peaceful to a great extent.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 