Going on a Chhau trail in Odisha

Plastic chairs and string cots are arranged neatly in a semi-circle under a canopy of trees at Beguna Diha, a village on the outskirts of Mayurbhanj in Odisha. You can hear the sound of practising percussionists, as young men and women get ready for a performance. The audience slowly fills the space. As the drums … Read more

In the UK, Kerala restaurants serve tapioca, fish curry and Indian maps to diners

The enthusiastic campaign to keep Veeraswamys on London’s Regent Street open demonstrates Britain’s well-documented passion for Mulligatawny Soup, chicken tikka and vindaloo. The UK’s oldest Indian restaurant, the Michelin-starred Veeraswamy may not reach its centenary next year, because of a lease dispute, however it did start a curry revolution. Moving forward from the stereotypical, and … Read more

Daughters and sons of Delhi | Author Keshava Guha on his new novel, The Tiger’s Share

Delhi-based author Keshava Guha says reading fiction is his single, favourite activity. | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap Keshava Guha’s debut novel Accidental Magic (2019) created a fictional world of Harry Potter fans from different parts of the world and varied cultural backgrounds. His second and recent novel, The Tiger’s Share (Hachette India) revolves around the lives of two … Read more

Column | Don’t squash that scream

A few months after my little boy turned three, we went to stay with Phuphee for a few weeks. He loved playing in her garden and we would go on all sorts of adventures in the apple orchard that sprawled behind the house. It was a wonderful time, or so it seemed until he would … Read more

From The Hindu, April 24, 1925: The Vaikom Pact

Ahmedabad, April 23: Mr. Gandhi writes in today’s Young India saying that the Travancore Government is giving full effect to the agreement arrived at between the Commissioner of Police and himself. He hopes that before long the prohibition against the use by the Untouchables of the public roads surrounding the temples will be a thing … Read more

Trans sceptic arguments are incoherent

Marion Calder, centre, and Susan Smith, left, from For Women Scotland, celebrate outside the U.K. Supreme Court in London on April 16, 2025 after the court ruled that a woman is someone born biologically female, excluding transgender people from the legal definition in a long-running dispute between the feminist group and the Scottish government. | … Read more