A Confrontation between Two Worlds: Amrita Sher Gil’s Letters and Painting, Two Girls
Often likened to Frida Kahlo, Amria Sher Gil was the daughter of an aristocratic Sikh scholar and a Hungarian socialite. Her mixed heritage bestowed upon her striking good looks an
A Unique Travelogue: Fakir Mohan Senapati’s “Utkala Bhramanam”
The very first specimen of travel writing in Odia, ‘Utkala Bhramanam’ (Utkal-ancient name for Orissa and Bhramanam-tour) was, in fact, not a travelogue at all. In his first eve
The Downfall of an Empire: Bahadur Shah Zafar’s Verses from Exile
The glory of the Mughal empire had already begun a steady decline by the time Bahadur Shah Zafar ascended the throne in 1837. He was well in his sixties and had witnessed the rise
A Lively Irreverence in the Face of Death: J. B. S. Haldane’s ‘Cancer is a Funny Thing’
The notion of death, especially one’s own, can have a sobering effect on the most tenacious of souls. J. B. S. Haldane, however, was not one to submit to its grim hold. John Burd
Time, Love, Desire and Other Musings: NM Rashid’s ‘Hassan Koozagar’
N.M. Rashid wrote what is arguably the greatest free verse poem in the Urdu language and a glorious statement to love and creativity. His poem, ‘Hassan Koozagar’ (Hassan the Po
An Ideal Date: Basawan’s ‘Alexander the Great Visits Sage Plato’
We often dream about meeting a spiritual or intellectual leader who can give us life-changing advice or bring us a moment of epiphany which leads to self-awareness. We imagi
Sacrifice and Selflessness Explained through Cannibalism: The Kashmiri Folktale ‘Akanandun’
Children’s folktales are similar in structures, themes and morals across the world. What is a bear in one culture, turns into a horse in another but the morals behind the stories