Talking in Tales: Munshi Charanjee Lal’s Collection of 10,000 Hindustani Idioms
The genius of a people can be told from the proverbs, idioms and maxims they employ in common parlance. How visual languages can be! How easily they transmit cultural values, way
Voices of a Woman: Kamala Das’ ‘The Looking Glass’ and ‘Herons’
Kamala Das was one of the first Indian poets to adopt the English language as a medium of expression despite widespread criticism. As a result, she was a formative and formidable i
Sultana’s Dream: Sketching a Feminist Dystopia in Early 20th Century Bengal
In 1905 Bengal purdah was still prominent and women’s education not so much. But in a prominent Bengali Muslim household, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain had her own little feminist dyst
Longing and Tragedy in a Kashmiri Queen’s Verses: Habba Khatoon’s Poetry
Mughal-e-Azam tells us a tale contrary to the otherwise glorious accounts of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. It tells us a heart-wrenching story of a blooming romance between a courtesan
A Secret Vigilance: Hakim Muhammad Yusuf Hasan’s Book, Do Shiza
The onset of teenage years and the subsequent exploration of sexuality is marked by certain difficulties. Especially for parents who are mistrustful of their children flirting wit
Humour and Defiance: Ismat Chughtai’s Essay, The Lihaf Trial
Humour has a long-standing relationship with defiance; satire and irony have launched as many revolutions as bullets and missiles. And yet, there is a different kind of humour–a
Intersecting Politics with Poetry: Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s Poem, Mujhse Pehli Si Mohabbat
Faiz Ahmed Faiz is most famous today for the many love ballads he has inspired. Yet in his own time, he was a member of the Progressive Writers Movement and an avid Marxist, often
The Quintessential Anxiety of Adulthood: Rabindranath Tagore’s Letters
1887 was a wholly unremarkable year for Rabindranath Tagore. Except for the fact that he turned the ripe old age of twenty seven. Although Tagore had published several short storie
A Slow, Watchful Patience: Salim Ali’s Essay, Stopping by the Woods on a Sunday Morning
As slick city dwellers, it is easy to develop an aversion to the crows and pigeons that seek asylum in our balconies. But Salim Ali, the original ‘Birdman of India’, shows us a
In the Voice of the Other: Rassul Galwan’s Autobiography, Servant of Sahibs
In 1923, W. Heffer & Sons Ltd. published an unusual book titled Servant of Sahibs: A Book to be Read Aloud. The book is an autobiographical account of Rassul Galwan, a Ladakhi