About a dozen people are standing atop a green John Deere tractor, hoisting signs and waving flags with pro-farmer slogans. Many of them are turbaned Sikhs while others wear different of head coverings. The tractor crawls through throngs of people, many of them dancing in celebration. Cheers ring out throughout the crowd, and, in the … Read More
Megha Majumdar’s A Burning, set in and around Kolkata, couldn’t be more topical. Moving with the inevitability of parable, it lacerates the Hindu right-wing by following violence until it reaches its logical endpoint. In A Burning, Jivan, a young Muslim woman, is thrown into jail for her alleged role in a terror attack. Lovely, a … Read More
The steady drizzle and wet clothes did not stop the march of saffron and black-clad men on State Highway 12 in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh. Many wore flimsy chappals while others walked barefoot. In an effort to stay dry, they covered themselves with tarps made from upcycled Cliff Bars and Spearmint wrappers. This is the Kanwar … Read More
This month, our national media houses have taken to predicting election results on CGI helicopters above a CGI map of India. But wait – first, let’s talk about Omelas. Written in 1973, The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas is is a short work of fiction by Ursula Le Guin. In the city of Omelas, everything is beautiful. … Read More
Kalaashakti rerouted the exploitative objectives of institutions like colonialism, EuroAmerican control over land, resources, knowledge, and cultural identity, and heteropatriarchy the dominance of men and heterosexual norms, through meditative pauses and re-embodiment. These practices loosen the grip of colonial and heteropatriarchal messages and framings inscribed into our breath and bodies that tell us, as Muslim … Read More
Creating Kalaashakti, a series of workshops centered on spiritual activism and healing, was a personal labor of love. The spiritual activism of these workshops was an experiment in a different kind of anti-violence, one that increased our inner fortitude to be with suffering and know it intimately, and open ourselves to healing in community — … Read More
Challia, Awaara, Shree 420 – the singer Mukesh’s soulful voice is found across the soundtracks of films in an early post-colonial India, narrating the vastly different post-partition life on the sub-continent. With Raj Kapoor, an accomplished actor and producer, Mukesh would go on to play an essential role in forming a young India’s national identity … Read More
With additional reporting by Sunita Viswanath. On July 26th, U.S. lawmakers, government officials, and NGO leaders attended an event organized by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) at the nation’s capitol for the release of its new report, “India: Democracy in Diversity.” The report’s release was timed to coincide with a conference organized by the U.S. … Read More
Earlier this month, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration announced plans to push for universal healthcare in India. So far, his budget proposal envisions providing healthcare support and health insurance for 100 million low-income families in India, which would cover 40% of the population. Eventually, the government plans to roll out accessible health insurance to … Read More
Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil of Rajpipla, India’s first openly gay prince, opened the doors of his palace to LGBTQ people in need this week. Among other things, he plans to offer them shelter, medical facilities, vocational training. A long-time gay rights activist, Gohil made headlines in 2006 after coming out to his family. His family promptly disowned him and people of Rajpipla … Read More
