A large section of the Hindu Right and the Hindu-not-so-right are ready to quarter, slice and cook film maker Leena Manimakalai on a hot oven for using a poster of her documentary film Kaali as a smoking and smiling Goddess stating that this is a violation of Hindutva that tends to vilify the Hindu image of Kali in public space.[Read More…]
Sanjukta Dasgupta, Virasat Art Publication, Kolkata, 2021 Sanjukta Dasgupta has been a scholar and an academic over her entire working life. Having taught English literature in its varied manifestations has seen its reflection in her very scholarly books revolving around literature, both English and Bengali, but she later shifted to poetry in the original and in translation and is now[Read More…]
Debajyoti Misra does not need any introduction. He is one of the most multi-faceted, talented, a bit eccentric and trained music composer in India whose fame reaches beyond Indian borders. His music for Anik Dutta’s recreation of the making of Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali has spread like wildfire among music lovers and the media. Music and orchestral performances across the[Read More…]
If being ghettoised within the mainstream and slotted in the category of “outcasts” in society, then Blacks in America and Dalits in India perhaps face the same kind of discrimination in their respective societies. While the Dalits are born into it by virtue of their caste determined by social and cultural history, the Blacks are discriminated against on the basis[Read More…]
BOLLYWOOD, TOLLYWOOD AND BEYOND – LITERARY ESSAYS ON INDIAN FILMS – By Somdatta Mandal, Pencraft International, New Delhi, 2021. Pages 344, Price: Rs.1200 Somdatta Mandal recently retired from her position as Professor of English and Chairperson of the Department of English, Viswa Bharati, Santi Niketan where she was very active in organizing seminars, panel discussions and conferences on subjects linking[Read More…]
Saikat Majumdar is no new name within contemporary Indian writers writing in English. I was introduced to his writing by a very young friend who is a noted food critic. Firebird, Saikat’s second novel was amazing in the way he structured his story opening with a small boy shocked by the cremation of his mother even when it was a[Read More…]
Dr. Jonaki Mukherjee is a Kolkata-based, dedicated teacher of small and growing children and is a distinguished counsellor. She is also a part of the West Bengal Women’s Commission. The book is a powerful reflection of emotional nostalgia that are narrations of her personal journey with women she has interacted with, mostly as counsellor. Books authored by counselling experts are[Read More…]
The Chidananda Dasgupta Best Book Award to Vidyarthy Chatterjee’s book on Calcutta and the Joshy Joseph Trilogy- A critical review Published by Cerebrum Books, India, 2022 Stuart Hall identifies three ways of reading media messages.[1] According to Stuart Hall, Dominant Reading takes what the film says for granted. The Negotiated Reading questions the minor premises but accepts the major ones.[Read More…]
American Abrams tanks roll into Ukraine 
An open letter to JNU VC – Madam! Your association with RSS defies humanism, anti-colonial struggle Indian democracy! 
From Education to Incarceration 
Tunakataa! Saying ‘No’ to Capitalism and Imperialism in Kenya 
Rising Islamophobia and Communal Discord: An Alarming Trend in BJP-Ruled States 
Speak Truth to Power and Pay the Price! 
USA’s Wars Took 12 Million Lives in The Last 25 Years 
US to send long-range ATACMS missile to Ukraine 
In Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan makes us an offer we can refuse 
Nijjar affair poses an existential dilemma 
On the Brink of Famine 
Appeal to withdraw the notification for the public hearing for the proposed Sijimali Bauxite Mining Project 
“Making a thriller from grain” 
Key Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) Likely To Collapse In 2025-2095 
Global Biofuel Alliance at G20: Land vs Water vs Food Security- Has the government addressed the trade-offs? 
The Nijjar Murder and Indian Government’s alleged “involvement”: Reactions and Reflections 
France Will Pull Out Its Diplomats And Military From Niger, Says Macron 
Imperial Footprints in Africa: The Dismal Role of AFRICOM 
Hunger in Africa has its roots in a History of Colonialism and Neo-colonialism 
The Climate March: Magnificent and Misdirected 
Imagining a Progressive Pentagon 
“Lost Voices of Fentanyl” Rally at the White House 
Indian Government Must First Evict Dalai Lama & his Followers before Admonishing Canada for Separatist Activities 
Peasant-rebels: lineages of insurgency 
Mission to Free Assange: Australian Parliamentarians in Washington 
Bayer-ICAR Collaboration Raises Serious Concerns Regarding Indian Farm Policy 
Place of Minorities as Allotted by Savarkar, Golwalkar and Upadhyaya 
What is in the name? Attempt to stop the usage of ‘India’ by the Government 
Poona Pact: A Reappraisal 
Hate Speech Inside Parliament: Reaching a New Low 
Criminal Justice And Freedom of Speech 
75,000 Climate Protesters Marched In New York With Demand To End Fossil Fuels 
On the Dark Side of the Moon.. 
Avoiding the War on Terror would have saved over 10 million lives at home and abroad 
The Angertainer Steps Down: Rupert Murdoch’s Non-Retirement 
Climate Emergency Update, September 2023 
My appeal to Meta’s Oversight Board: Palestinian political and resistance organizations & individuals are not “terrorists” as classified by Israel 
Artificial Intelligence: Profit Versus Freedom 
How Can We Understand the Passage of Time? 
Pre- and Post-Soviet Language Policy in the East-Baltic States 
My Amma (Malayalam word for Mother) passed away on August 22, 2023 at 3.10 AM. It is always difficult to deal with the passing of a parent, that too one’s mother. I thought the grief would go away. No it didn’t. All those bitter sweet memories won’t go away. At night I lie awake for hours. My friend, guide and[Read More…]
