Visual Spaces
H. Masud Taj celebrates the arrival (der aaye, durrust aaye) of Surya Kumar Yadav with poetry and calligraphy, and cautions the BCCI not to drop the ball.…[Read More]…
Between The Lines
Recent pronouncements about the dangers of the brain and pens wielded by so-called “anti-national” intellectuals signal open declarations against reason and breed an infantilism that indulges in aggression and submission says Jyotsna Kapur. And yet adulthood and, radical democracy prevail.…[Read More]…
Personal Notes
H. Masud Taj takes a leaf out of The Matrix and swallows the red pill to delve into the unsettling truth about Partition and the unlearnt truth about Hindu-Muslim unity, embodied in the life and work of Maulana Azad.…[Read More]…
Literary Trails
A short fiction by Mridula Garg, rendered into English by Pooja Sancheti that opens the doors to differing perceptions on life-expectations, and nature’s vicissitudes leading up to a denouement that reflects the whimsical nature of male behaviour …[Read More]…
Bookshelf
Sri Aurobindo was a prolific writer and engaged with the multiple dimensions of living: political thought, historical inquiry, cultural critiquing, literary and aesthetic thinking and Vedic exegesis. But he never let go of poetry that afforded him the unique blending of inspiration and expression, says Murali Sivaramakrishnan delving into his philosophy and poetics.. …[Read More]…
Between The Lines
Poetry is one of the fields with which science is experimenting with Artificial Intelligence (AI); various projects and the sites using technical means ‘produce’ poetry. Can computers programmed just to execute orders create what the human creates-Self-awareness among other things, wonders Christina Linardaki …[Read More]…
Bookshelf
Sami Ahmad Khanoffers a critical reading of Indian Science Fiction (ISF) based on mythology (M), ideology (I) and technology (T) that shape it and its fictional re-imaginings as an alternative to a male Eurocentric perspective of the genre. …[Read More]…
Visual Spaces
H. Masud Taj reminds us through his art that language can become the vehicle of colonization and decolonization; but songs of resistance can also turn into dog-whistles. …[Read More]…
Between The Lines
At Matri Sadan ashram in Haridwar, saints have for years resorted to satyagraha as resistance to the despoliation of the mighty river before it reaches the plains. It has been a lonely battle. Bharat Dogra pleads for wider support for such deep commitment to saving our environment. …[Read More]…
Literary Trails
A searing allegory on the horrors attending the birth of the two nations, seen from the lowest depths up as a prostitute offers the founding fathers a unique option for redemption through compassion, by Krishn Chander. Translated from Urdu by Ayesha Kidwai. …[Read More]…
Visual Spaces
H. Masud Taj bases his Calligraphy and Found Poem on the letter of jailed rights activist Umar Khalid, in response to a letter of Rohit Kumar, author of “Tales from the Jail: Christmas in Tihar”…[Read More]…
Between The Lines
Social critic Max Haiven argues that extractive capitalism’s exploitation and ecological destruction is still evident in palm oil, marked by sacrificial violence against human and non-human life in the name of the market and profits. He argues for a post-capitalist just society based on global “commoning”…[Read More]…
That’s Life!!!
Bolivia’s President Luis Arce used his platform at the United Nations recently to propose an alternative, 14-point program to what he called “a wide-ranging, systemic capitalist crisis that increasingly endangers the life of humanity and the planet” Ben Norton of Multipolarista breaks it down for us. …[Read More]…