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Politics & Culture

Mothers and Lovers in Tamil Cinema

(Painting: Courtesy Shameela Yoosuf Ali) Mothers and Lovers in Tamil Cinema: Ashok Kumar (1941) and Mangayarkarasi (1949) Abstract: This essay engages with two Tamil films, Ashok Kumar (1941) and Mangayarkarasi (1949), to explore female desire through the roles portrayed by
April 25, 2022

What is Dravidian Cinema?

Introduction: Ideology, Form, and the Cinema of a Society Few terms circulate as freely through the study of South Asian visual culture — and resist definition as stubbornly — as “Dravidian cinema.” Used loosely, the phrase is a geographic convenience, aggregating the
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Cinemelancholy 

Shadows of the Saturnine: A Comparative Phenomenology ––Swarnavel Eswaran Yun toh har shaam ummeedon mein guzar jaati thi, aaj kuch baat hai jo shaam pe rona aaya. While every sunset is usually buoyed by hope, tonight, a certain wordless sorrow makes me
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Decolonisation or Market Expansion?

How India’s Education Policy Turns Rhetoric into Paradox Introduction Initially, decolonisation referred to the political process through which former colonies achieved independence and sovereignty, liberating themselves from direct colonial rule. Over time, however, the concept has expanded beyond its political dimensions to
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Two Points in Time

Notes on time and telling Remember that IG/FB trend from a few years ago? Then and Now. Some version of this is always doing the rounds. At the time people were putting up their pictures from 10 years ago alongside their recent ones. How
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Busting Silence on Hidden Anatomy

The First Conflict It is a sociologist’s blight to avoid reflecting on the newspaper headlines about incidents of sexual harassment, substance abuse and the rise in cases of unwanted teen pregnancy. While disentangling the enigma, my mind was blown when a young
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Swallow

“This is too revealing. The boys are getting disturbed. Tell your mother to buy you something that covers you. Look at what Alisha is wearing.” Her coach barks at her. Chlorine goes up her nostrils as she tries to hold on to
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Momma – Courage

I always tell her she is very brave. Maybe I should use the word ‘courage’ more often. “You know I left you behind because I had to. I feel bad about it.” Ma said. “Don’t. Momma you did what you thought was
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A View with A Room

I have dreams about ‘writing spaces,’ but before I can turn this dream into reality, I must ask the apple tree for permission to share space with it, in the far corner of my backyard, where it stands in solitary splendor. I
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The Jig is Up!

Each year millions of Indians celebrate the killing of an Asura King by Hindu Goddess Durga for ten days. The Hindu festival, set in casteist narratives has us convinced that the evil is an outsider. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data
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Transcending Boundaries.

Transcending Boundaries, Diversity and Inclusion in Australian Fiction Book Publishing. Diversity and inclusion in Australian publishing continue to be under scrutiny. The Australian Publishing Industry Workforce Survey on Diversity and Inclusion, released on 31 August 2022, referred to all sections
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Alternative Masculinity

We surely were annoyed, rather uncomfortable, looking at the PDA of the middle-aged couple.  Dr.Harihar Panda and his wife Mrs.Savita Panda were my guests that evening, along with two other friends from Odisha—Dr. Manas and Dr.Shubhra. All of them except for Savita
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When Gangubai becomes Gangubhai

The Politics of ‘Apolitical’ Films In a neoliberal world, where cultural industries appropriate emotions and affective spaces, it would be unrealistic to expect popular mainstream films to portray social reality or to invite critical deliberations through cultural texts. Yet we often encounter
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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
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Changing The Script

When Dylan sang The Times They are a Changin’ in 1964, a clarion call to generations of rebellious young people, he (and we) would have never imagined just how prophetic his words were. If there is anything constant in our contemporary mediascapes,
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Between The Lines

Several years ago, a young English couple came to honeymoon in the hill country of Sri Lanka. Part of their stay was in a wonderful hotel which was built in a former tea factory.  Some of the pieces of equipment
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Marriage Or Migration

An Escape from Overbearing Parenting Toxic parenting is very common in South Asia. In general, if one considers how much parents and children are enmeshed in each other’s lives, it is a hold that is never relinquished till one or
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Why We’re All Slow Learners?

  If there is such a thing as a ‘slow’ learner, does it mean there are ‘slow’ teachers, ‘slow’ trainers, ‘slow’ Head Masters, ‘slow’ officials, ‘slow’ institutions, ‘slow’ systems? It’s amazing to see how many people use the term ‘slow’ learner without
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Redefining The Classroom

People who criticise teachers tend to overlook the fact that the typical government school teacher has a challenging situation – a shifting population of children who are at different levels, with home conditions that do not always support education, and with
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