-Tanushree Wadodkar ‘In a land now called our enemy, once stood a house I only ever knew as home. I grew up there. Played in those streets. Sat on the school bench and learned. Spent my evenings playing in the verandah. But then, one day, I had to leave. Leave the only home I had […]Read More
~Tanushree Wadodkar The Panchakanyas are five women from the Hindu mythology who are remembered in hymns and verses for their resilience, strength, and purity. The term “Panchakanya” literally means “five maidens”. Ahalya Draupadi Kunti, Tara Mandodari tatha Panchakanya smaren nityam, mahapataka nashanam This verse literally means remembering the panchakanyas – Ahalya, Draupadi, Kunti, Tara, and […]Read More
~Tanushree Wadodkar One of the darkest periods in Indian democracy was the Emergency period of 1975-77, imposed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi under Article 352. What followed was public backlash, the arrest of opposition leaders, press censorship, and suspension of Articles 19 (Right to speech), 14 (equality before law), 21 (right to life […]Read More
~Tanushree Wadodkar We have all seen and loved ‘Heeramandi- The Diamond Bazaar’ by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. We have admired the actors’ beauty, the costumes, and the grand sets. But let’s talk about the actual core of the series- the tawaifs. Who were they? How did they come to be? And what happened to them? Several […]Read More
-Tanushree Wadodkar India has 28 states and 8 union territories. That is the map of India we know today. But it did not always look the same. Over the years, the boundaries within the country have undergone several changes. Territories have been acquired, states created on linguistic basis, and state boundaries altered. As the population […]Read More
-Tanushree Wadodkar When I first stepped into the Cellular Jail in Port Blair, Andaman, I just stopped. I have tried to describe that moment several times, but I honestly don’t know how. The small cells, the hanging cellar, and the darkness, both literal and metaphorical, were overwhelming to say the least. It did not feel […]Read More
~Tanushree Wadodkar When people talk about ‘Indian Mythology,’ they often think of figures like Lord Rama, Devi Sita, Lord Krishna, the Pandavas, etc. But to be honest, there are so many others who have moulded the events of our mythology, and yet they are not talked about. These characters may not always be the centre […]Read More
-Nisha Jha “Bhangarh” fort is a historic fort located in the “Alwar” district of Rajasthan, India, near the Sariska Tiger Reserve. This fort is widely known for its Mysterious stories and many people say, this is India’s most haunted place. But still, approximately 1500 tourist visit the fort on normal days. Bhangarh’s mystery is the […]Read More
-Oishee Bose At first glance Nihali looks like a footnote in the vast story of South Asian languages: a handful of words muttered in a few villages on a boundary map. But look closer and the footnote opens into questions about who lived where before the big language families spread, how languages survive contact, and […]Read More
-Oishee Bose There is something almost cinematic about a scientist who climbs into the Himalayas to hang photographic plates on a rickety frame and waits, sometimes for months, for invisible rain from the cosmos to etch its secret on silver halide. That image fits one chapter of the life of Bibha Chowdhuri: a young Bengali […]Read More