Essays

Notes from Post-Colonial India

Satyajit Ray: life, influences, writings

Himalayan Foothills

“We kept looking at our two-year-old like: we know we have to take care of you, but we don’t know what to do.”

The Angel of Tsomang

“Returning was, in many ways, harder than setting out had been. My nerves were wrecked, I couldn’t feel my legs, and the silence had finally caught up to me.”

Subaltern Histories and Regional Identity in ‘Southeast Asia in World History’

A review of Craig Lockard’s book ‘Southeast Asia In World history’

“Undifferentiated Brown Stuff”: Daljit Nagra and Travelling Poetry

In this collection, poetry becomes a way of signalling: we are not alone

On The Semantic Wonder of Foul Language

"Profanity conveys emotion in a manner that ‘cleaner’ language struggles to—and who wouldn’t want the ability to so powerfully and instantaneously express emotion?"

The Undaunted Poetry of Louise Glück

"Glück’s voice was shaped by bedtime stories narrated to her by her father, a Hungarian immigrant to the USA, who helped invent the X-Acto knife. The influence shows: her writing is as knife-sharp, incisive, and clean as a bone."

A Bestiary of Ugly Feelings

Rijneveld slips into pettier, liminal emotions, masterfully creating cross-sections of envy, guilt, and boredom in 'The Discomfort of Evening.'

Live-streaming Lord Ganesha: Of Festivals and Pandemics

Devotees around India adapt to usher in their beloved deity during virus-ridden times.
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