In 1979, Basu Chatterjee made Baaton Baaton Mein and unobtrusively brought to us the dating and courtship rituals of a community that was till then either caricatured or just overlooked in Hindi cinema. Nancy Perreira and Tony Braganza…
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Matriarchal manipulation in a patriarchal world is depicted unsparingly in Usha Priyamwada’s Pachpan Khambe Laal Deewarein (Now playing on Prasar Bharti). The mother resentful of her lecturer daughter’s comfortable life in her college residence because the younger daughters…
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“Start with hope..always start with hope. We went from being a shitty team to become one of the biggest dynasties in the sport and all it needed was one match to light this fire,” says Michael Jordan at…
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In 1947, my grandparents brought three children and the remains of an uprooted life from Pakistan to India in a train. One of those children was my mother. I grew up hearing a lot of stories about the…
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Three documentaries streaming right now show the ultimate culmination of the Bois Locker Room culture. And what happens when one gender is taught to mistrust its instincts of self-preservation and the other does not even learn something as…
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In Sudip Sharma’s Paatal Lok (Now streaming on Amazon. Co written by Sharma, Sagar Haveli, Hardik Mehta and Gunjit Chopra. Directed by Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy), India’s disowned inhabit the headlines we turn away from. A young…
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She rings the doorbell, one hand balancing a big tokri of vessels and a shoulder weighed down by cast off clothes. “Get those old clothes we sorted,” shouts Ma as she chats up the woman. She’s dressed like the sun. Bright yellow dupatta sprinkled with orange spots. The blouse and skirt like the blue sky; […]
To whom it may concern.. And to whomever it may not. There was a nest outside my window above a flower pot. And in this nest, there was a .. proud and happy sparrow. Who preened and sang and flew but its song seemed slightly hollow. And then one day another came.. With a branch clasped […]
What do you know?
Now you are inside the mystery looking out,
and I am on the outside?
He was among the very few who kept khadi living in his uniform, and carried a jhola brimming with emotions and messages, from across miles and miles. Postman chacha, I’ve seen him grow since I was a baby; his hair going from black to a pepper spray. I got my Tobu cycle. Then a BSA […]
The Mumbai trains are like a country within a country. Most people who use it to commute call it a “life-line” that takes them to work so that they can provide for their families. Every person who uses it has a new story to tell each day and with nearly seven million people travelling on a daily basis, all one can do is listen and marvel…
This poem underscores the lives led by many a woman in India. Many traditions believe that cats lead nine lives. And the title is an analogy to the fact that cats survive life threatening situations in a very natural manner. Just like it’s a way of life for these women too… Nine Lives As tender […]
What a nice day, no, it’s a super one! Can’t believe my luck, what’s going on? I feel so happy, can’t stop smiling! I feel so good, it’s simply nauseating. I am not hurting, I have no need, Of a shoulder to cry on, ears to pay heed. I pick up the pieces, find another, […]
Piece together the pieces of a scattered mind Make a scented paste of the bump and grind A play, a performance, a story played out An emotion whispered with a gentle pout. The sweat must not smell and the hurt must not show But Feelings must reach all the way back to the last row […]
Even after leaving the city for nearly eight years, my life in Mumbai has left an indelible mark on everything I think, say, or do. Here is a series of free form poems titled “Bombaiyaa” that reflect life in Bombay, that tell a true story about how some things were, how some things still are… […]