Inhabiting an ambiguous space in the long and celebrated lineage of munshis and karanams who had occupied a central place in the newly-emerging bureaucratic regimes of early modern...

A major lacuna in the organizing principle of the narrative is evident when we see that the narration of three events that are its focus — “the Iranian Revolution; the siege of the Holy Mo...

If this sounds like the formula for a Bildungsroman, the book is nothing of the kind. The plot, for one, is too complex: Giovanna’s story is four years of her life and cannot be shoehorned into ...

Much of the novel — set in the 1970s and 1980s — unfolds under the oppressive regime of Idi Amin. Yet, Makumbi makes sure that the broader history remains blended inconspicuously into the ...

The continuity of dissent, therefore, presupposes the continuity of some of these practices and institutions over a long period of time. As evinced by the recent trends of political mobilization, reli...

The book highlights the pressures a cricketer has to endure all his life. Life is like an innings of cricket. Some will be patient and wait for the right ball (opportunity) while others will be undisc...

Jibon Das, a Chandal, is the protagonist here. He and the writer are almost identical. Jibon’s world stuns, because it is seen from the other side of caste. In Bengal, we still claim that caste ...

Did you know which book Sharmila Tagore was reading in that particular scene in Aradhana? Did you know Mithun Chakraborty has been called Shanker in 20 films from his repertoire? What password did Aks...

Sadly, My Life in Red and White won’t answer such questions. It will paint an intriguing story of the early life of Wenger, how he grew up in rural Alsace, in the east of France. You w...

The available data on the prevalence of family planning practices among Muslims in India, on the other hand, do not show a radically different trend from other communities. As a matter of fact, the NF...