January 2022

Fictional Arts·Literature

Glass 2

I’ve only ever been at home in blizzard, the electric pink dollar store glitter eyeshadow slant of it. Make no mistake God is black and trans. I’ve seen her pink slippers slide in drifts, her matching boa off the

by Anne Walsh

Congratulations- It Is A Girl

The elderly midwife smiled as she told me. That was the fifth time I heard this sentence, and I was afraid of it. My baby was a cute little thing. But as I held her in my arms, I could not help but

by Sylvia Nalubega

Fictional Arts·Literature

Impasse

sound of rain fills the gaps between one blink and the next waiting for the storm to pass among shadows in their heads thunder a crescendo of drumfire lightning jags rupture the bloated sky viewed through muddled branches in the

by Marilyn Humbert

Why Tamil Translation Matters

Why Tamil? For an author, having your work translated into another culture is the ultimate compliment. Your story has travelled into other imaginations. Fake I.D. was a family history mystery of a teenager finding on the day of

by Hazel Edwards

Women (Not) Making News

“What inequality? There are more women than men in the newsroom these days!” This incredulity characterised many conversations with women journalists I met in 2011-12 as part of my research on gender in the newsroom. In India, the two

by Nithila Kanagasabai

Politics & Culture

From the Personal to the Universal: The Second Rise of Feminism

My days at university were filled with the evolving rights for women – the first test-tube baby, the pill, first women’s refuge, brave new feminist literature including ‘The Female Eunuch’, gender equality, the first International Women’s Day. When I wrote ‘Shadows of

by Susanne Gervay

Politics & Culture

A Difficult Year For The Indian Film Fraternity

In the past year, the film fraternity in India has had to deal with a spate of new concerted assaults by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), which could fundamentally alter the future of filmmaking and the extant film cultures in

by Shilpi Gulati

Politics & Culture

Diversity Is A Fact

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are currently occupying everyone’s attention since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, and the concept of anti-racism and decolonization became more prominent. However, to start with that, it is important to note that the

by Amjad Saleem

Politics & Culture

Wearing Saris in Academia: An Indian Perspective

Modern fashion systems have given women in independent India a `plethora of alternatives. Some argue that wearing Western clothing necessarily implies living in a colonial hangover. Others contend that Western fashion offers cheaper alternatives that are comfortable for the female body. The

by Mridula Sharma

Holistic Health

Time to Say Good-bye to 2021

The year was 1978: My father’s funeral took place on the outskirts of a mango orchard belonging to our uncle Ramachandran. Once the last of the smoke from the funeral pyre faded into the tropical evening, it was time for the ritual

by Meera Klein

Holistic Health

My Tryst with Trigeminal Neuralgia

I had no idea what trigeminal neuralgia was, until it hit me two and a half years ago. It started with sensitivity on my left cheek, which I thought was a tooth problem, and gradually progressed to affect the entire

by Anjali Monteiro

Cuisines·Food & Travel

Birthday Pudding

Birthday cakes were not part of my childhood celebrations. But don’t feel too sorry for me. For birthdays and on other special occasions, my mother prepared a creamy cardamom-spiked pudding. This addictive dessert was the perfect ending to a spicy meal. There

by Meera Klein

Politics & Culture

Rewriting the Rules of Patriarchy Through Football

Ajmer Girls are Rewriting the Rules of Patriarchy through Football A group of adolescent girls from rural Rajasthan are moving the goalposts against patriarchy. In our world, where the dreams and aspirations of young girls are often limited, these girls

by Pooja Pooja Gurjar

Fictional Arts·Literature

The Golden Age of the 90s Kids

Everybody has their childhood memories, which cannot be erased by any means or will never disappear but will be stored forever somewhere around in their hard disk. The 90s kids have been blessed in many ways. They are the generation

by Rifaq Azhar

Fictional Arts·Literature

Tears Can Come Anytime

Graphite pencil art by Anthony Gartmond, New Jersey, USA Child: I see you. I see you, a soft bundle of heaven. A melodious dreamland in a tender wrap. One I imagined you’d be handed to me in for the first time.

by Anita Nahal

Fictional Arts·Literature

Black Wave- A Thoughtful Narrative

A thoughtful narrative of the events in 1979 that influenced the Middle East and Southeast Asia Black Wave, a book authored by Kim Ghattas, a Dutch – Lebanese journalist for the BBC for the past 20 years, hit the shelves on 17th

by Sumera Bashir

Fictional Arts·Literature

A Conversation With Mother

My mother and I don’t ask each other Deep Questions. How are you? Did you have lunch? Did your client pay you? How’s the weather? Did you exercise today? Dad asked about you. Stay Safe. This is the gamut of

by Pooja Sarkar

Fictional Arts·Literature

My Tranquil City Tonight

Is it fine with you, love, to live and negotiate through the language of oblivion? It’s a separate matter that this is yet another love story for you. And you can tell us, re-tell, re-tell more tales. Some know parts

by Nandini Sahu

Fictional Arts·Literature

Homesick For Noise

I hated sleeping in India while travelling for a friend’s wedding. a foreign bedroom of sweltering heat enveloped my sticky body as I restlessly slapped pesty mosquitoes rambling in my ear. to my left, a competition took place between the

by Abira Kannan

Fictional Arts·Literature

Dust

Everything is dirty, No matter you keep, Wiping with mop, Or wash it away with water. It keeps coming back, Mumbling grudging, Haunting the house, With its all-swarming presence. The books on the shelf, Are all dusty again, Like

by Neeru

Fictional Arts·Literature

Songs You Should Never Learn From Your Mother

Demure steps pacing up the stairs, my mother sashayed Across a room scented claustrophobia Trailblazer Her mellow rebels watched over Of ripe mounds dangling precarious Hummed into birched silence Blobs That hid cankerous worms, of the immolations She would, Bury

by Adrija Chatterjee

Fictional Arts·Literature

Chede (Wild Figs)

Some fruits were not meant for cutting Formed when stones were soft and Birth was still a kind of bursting See how wild fig flesh bruises when cut By these alien knives, Unschooled in surgical assault No, that firm tart flesh next

by T.Keditsu

Fictional Arts·Literature

Window Screens

Coming home from school. To an empty house. Sometimes we’d forget the key. We were still kids. Five and six. Our neighbouring friends would help us break through the window screens. The ones to keep all the bugs in Australia

by Chanika Desilva

Fictional Arts·Literature

Lament Of A Wounded Dove

Lament of a Wounded Dove See onto my wings These feathers are broken and Claws tied with iron strings I’m showered in the blood Of blameless Orphan children, and of widows of wars Far-sighted from heights Beneath the smoke of

by Aamir Habib

Fictional Arts·Literature

Silence Of Shame

You wake up early on school days. You have chores to do, before you prepare for school. You see your dad walk around, reading the newspaper and drinking black coffee as you wake up. You go and sit by him as

by Swapna Gopinath

Fictional Arts·Literature

The Soaked Rotty Pieces

These Lengthy nights of winter Like a bird which sings in the drizzle Won’t sleep without the warmth of your memories. The heart where I hold Your pose which was Twenty years old Still moist… Evening sunlit wafting from the kitchen window.

by Sameera Fathima

Fictional Arts·Literature

The Things Of The Night

Once when I was young and afoot in an unknown city and was refused lodgings in an abandoned factory and had nowhere to turn I thought I understood the things of the night. But, no, I did not. And, then

by Will Mayo

Fictional Arts·Literature

Diary Of An Insomniac

They are his sounds – the rhythmic stutter of a snore the start of a child squeak of wheels on asphalt as the water drum is dragged down the street. The flapping of tarp as the homeless pile under its

by Zainab Shamsi

Fictional Arts·Literature

Which Person Shall I Burn This Night?

What message did we spurn this night? Whose body did we burn this night? All men in town are godly men. For godliness, I yearn this night. That night they killed my soulfulness. It is my body’s turn this night. This

by Ammar Aziz

Fictional Arts·Literature

Lahore

How my heart beats With the throbs of Lahore! How the beloved streets Embrace! when the whole world Sleeps in deep slumber How the ebb and flow Of day-night movements Make the city gleam … While the people dream Of

by Ayesha

Fictional Arts·Literature

How long?

How long will I hear waves of violence, blown and tossed by the wind? How long will I look at the face of injustices mirrored in the hill? How long must I smell burns of oppression clung against my will?

by Mae Ann

Who Was bell hooks?

Just in case, you woke up early on Thursday the 16th December 2021, read the news of the passing away of bell hooks, and had never heard of her, wondered who this woman of colour was, please do not feel

by Nadi