By Narendra Pachkhede. His music was steeped in jazz and cabaret; his dialogue was in the Beiruti dialect, his wit was mordant. He wrote not of cedars but of unpaid rent, not of timeless landscapes, but of shifting alliances. He did not so much mock Lebanon’s hypocrisies as make them speak.

By Arjun Janah. But, still, be gentle with yourself.

Ayasha Kaur. People have been so afraid of educating their daughters because they would say, “If tomorrow daughters become educated, they will write letters to boys.” This exposes the inherent fears of this patriarchal society. This means that if girls become educated, they will fight for their rights, they will take their rights themselves, they will not need to become dependent on anyone.

By Binu Mathew. Yes, we are Davids facing Goliath with just a stone in our hands. At first glance, we are destined to fail. But if we act collectively, we can win.

By Aditya Nigam. Well, the upshot was that I had to tell them that I would not be able to do what I was expected to do by the ‘German public sphere’ -- that is, dance to the tune of the German and the Israeli states.

By Uttara and Sudarshan Shidore. To mark 50 years of the greatest entertainer, blockbuster, and the most successful Hindi film ever made, here's a quiz on the film, designed by Uttara and Sudarshan Shidore.

By Harshit Rana. In this dark world, there is a need of little spark, so as to make a better world where at least two people can love, work, study, play and share, without the fear of age-old boundaries and prejudices imposed on them.

The Ambassador of Palestine in India, H.E. Abdullah Mohammad A Abushawesh, writes to Editor, Amit Sengupta.

Short Story by Ajith Pillai. Journalist J’s chilling account detailed the diabolic plan devised by the construction conglomerate and several governments to decongest Planet Earth of the human population. It entailed transporting unsuspecting men, women and children in mega spacecrafts, outside the solar system. This was considered “safer, less messy and evidence-free” than culling by injecting a killer virus or releasing deadly toxins into the air and water. 

By Janaky Sreedharan. Atreyakam, a novel in Malayalam penned by R Rajasree (2024), in its 25th edition now, is the latest entry into the world of contemporary Mahabharata retellings. She discovers that equations of male virility in bed, with manliness in war, make honour a key word around gender identities.

By Puja Bhakhoo. This piece explores what happens when divine rage collides with human emotions. It’s not about the thunder we hear, but the storm we feel — the tension, the anticipation, the unraveling beneath the surface.

By Tathagatha Chatterjee. A charismatic cinema legend in his lifetime in Bengal, Uttam Kumar’s unfading brilliance continues to cast a magical spell across all generations -- his immortal legacy endures. A tribute to the Mahanayak on his 45th anniversary.

By Shubho Roy. Over 75 years ago, a landless immigrant arriving in the city of Kolkata planted a tamarind tree. The act of planting a tree in an unfamiliar land thus became a part of the long negotiation for inclusion, for rehabilitation. An act of re-rooting oneself in the new land.

By Aayushi Rana. What could have led the father to pump bullets into his highly talented young daughter’s back while she was cooking in their home in upscale Sushant Lok in Gurugram? Was it the tennis academy she ran, and her high national rankings in the game? A music video she made last year? Wounded pride? Or, was it something else entirely?

By Ratna Raman. The idea of women as attractive but foolish was acceptable, because everywhere average women had less rights and dignity than the average man.

By Narendra Pachkede. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o leaves behind no fixed doctrine but a practice. A practice of listening to ancestral echoes. A practice of writing against forgetting.

In conversation with Seema Mustafa: As journalists, never forget that you are just a messenger between the poor and the deprived, and the corridors of power.

Karen Gabriel speaks about the 'element of instantaneity': everything is arriving simultaneously in the ‘feed’ – and it disappears just as fast..

By Tathagata Chatterjee. Ray’s masterpiece was not made to be liked. It was made to be remembered.