Articles by: Prof Shah Alam Khan

Conversations in Shroud

Conversations in Shroud

No way! I wont leave without her seeing me one last time! But they said she will not be coming, But why, I wanted to ask. I wanted to scream. And what about him? My best pal. Will he too not come? There are whispers that he won’t come either. Come on! They are kidding me. He will come. I[Read More…]

by 26/05/2021 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
Chotu, the homeless

Chotu, the homeless

They all called him Chotu. How and why the name came to stick, even he didn’t know. He wasn’t short. As an Indian, he was average in height. But he wasn’t an Indian, or was he? Well, even that wasn’t clear to him. The other day, the fat clerk at the aadhar office had refused to give a form because[Read More…]

by 03/06/2019 2 comments Arts/Literature
The Mob

The Mob

“Who is that with the dagger?”
“I don’t know.”
“And who is that with the stick?”
“Sorry, don’t know.”
“Who is that with the sledgehammer?”
“Don’t know.”
“And look, who is that with the pen?”
“Oh, he? He’s a journalist.”

by 10/11/2018 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
Padmawati, The Queen

Padmawati, The Queen

Padmawati was all dressed up for the occasion- a red saree with an equally red blouse and a small ghunghat that carefully covered the charm of her dark face. A small nose ring which curved and curled into a nathuri stuck on to her right nostril. The two artificial garnets of her nathuri glittered in the sunlight. Three blackish-grey tattoo[Read More…]

by 23/11/2017 1 comment India
Santoshi Kumari’s mother. Credit: Twitter/ANI

Aadhaar: The Quiet Darkness

Knock, Knock

“Who‘s there?”

“Hunger”

“Hunger who?”

“Santoshi hai?”

by 18/10/2017 Comments are Disabled Arts/Literature
Heart of Hunger

Heart of Hunger

I don’t know if you came across a piece of news from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, published a few days back in several national dailies. No wonder you might have missed it, it was (purposely) snug in one tight corner of most papers like a hibernating animal, meant to be left untouched. Well, the news was that a twenty-seven-year-old, hungry man, Sunil[Read More…]

With Love From Gorakhpur

With Love From Gorakhpur

Then they reached, seventy of them,
In shrouds as white as the lilies of the field.
They cried, they wailed, they gasped for air,
Their caring moms left behind

by 13/08/2017 1 comment Arts/Literature
Lafzon ka Perh (The Tree of Words)

Lafzon ka Perh (The Tree of Words)

(This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to recent events or people is intentional, fiction after all is the step daughter of reality) Azadnagar was a unique place. It had birds which could speak. Yes, speak as we could. The people of Azadnagar loved their birds but no one knew how they could speak. The secret of the speaking[Read More…]

by 07/06/2017 2 comments Life/Philosophy
Peace Is The Plot

Peace Is The Plot

If you love peace, you need to see the channel Republic. You can’t always wait for peace. At times, you have to earn it. Fish it out of the madness which surrounds you all the time. There can be no two opinions on peace, just like you can’t have two suns or two moons. But peace is not about suns[Read More…]

by 31/05/2017 1 comment India
Lynchdia: The New India

Lynchdia: The New India

Pete and Laura, old friends from Derby were visiting. They were here for a month and wanted to go around and discover the land of Buddha. “We want to go to Agra and see the Taj Mahal”, she said with a mouthful of English accent. “Hmm…Taj Mahal? That’s in Uttar Pradesh, nearer to Dadri where Akhlaq was lynched.” “And then[Read More…]

by 21/05/2017 2 comments India
People waiting to get registered at Motihari District Government Hospital in East Champaran, Bihar. With so few doctors employed to work in the public sector of healthcare in India, this scene is typical.

What Should Actually Make The Doctors Angry

The recent strike of doctors across Maharashtra (and other parts of the country) against violence unleashed on them by disgruntled relatives of patients have thrown up uncomfortable questions. Whenever and wherever, violence must be abhorred and condemned in all its forms. Without doubt, all healthcare providers should be ensured safety at places of work. Violence at place of work can[Read More…]

by 06/04/2017 1 comment Life/Philosophy
Red & Blue: Let’s Make America Great Again!

Red & Blue: Let’s Make America Great Again!

Last night I dreamt of Alan Kurdi. Remember him? …No? Well, I thought so, or rather I was sure that you would have forgotten. After all it’s natural to forget tragedies, pain and death! That is such a natural, lovely, human trait, essential to survive the pain-hole that this world is! It’s been more than a year since Alan’s lifeless[Read More…]

by 30/01/2017 1 comment World
Demonetisation: Stories Of Flesh And Blood

Demonetisation: Stories Of Flesh And Blood

Beyond the orgasms of patriotism and far from the rhetoric of nationalism breathes the real India, an India of flesh and blood. And no matter what amount of chest thumping some among us do, it is getting clearer by the day that it was this real India which bled white following the demonetization drive announced by the government on November[Read More…]

by 18/12/2016 5 comments India
Tubeless Tyres And Soulless Bodies

Tubeless Tyres And Soulless Bodies

Tubeless tyres are a great discovery; a marvel of sorts. They claim you can run for fifty odd kilometres even after the tyre is punctured! I had other reasons to enjoy the boon of the tubeless tyre. A month back air pressure in one of the tyre of my sedan went low. On my way to work I stopped at[Read More…]

by 19/11/2016 1 comment Life/Philosophy
Uncanny Likeness?

Uncanny Likeness?

At the outset please let me clarify that I am an Indian, I love my nation and I stand up straight and attentive every time the national anthem is played. Having said this, I have interest in history and love to read anything and everything that helps me decipher the past because in words of Churchill, the more backward we[Read More…]

by 07/11/2016 4 comments India
People waiting to get registered at Motihari District Government Hospital in East Champaran, Bihar. With so few doctors employed to work in the public sector of healthcare in India, this scene is typical.

Health Impoverishment: Has India’s Healthcare System Privatised Enough?

Ratna Devi and her nine year old daughter Seema (names changed) came to AIIMS, New Delhi with a large tumor over Seema’s knee. The tumor was not a new discovery and had been thriving on the little girl like a blood sucking leech for the last one year. An enquiry revealed that the family was from Rajasthan, around four hundred[Read More…]

by 18/08/2016 3 comments India
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