An ode to a “forgotten” India which needs to be given its rightful place in a Euro-American-centric globe ends up replacing one form of cultural supremacy with another. The obsession with an original…
The underground Congress Radio was a story of plucky young nationalists challenging foreign rule during the Quit India Movement and contesting colonial control of the airwaves.
Debates amongst 18th and 19th century Muslim scholars on appropriate boundaries for friendship and intimacy with Hindus were sparked by the new political realities of colonial rule and fears of…
The foreign minister's newest book isn't the rich chronicle of how the ministry punches above its weight. That its uninspired prose isn't called out reveals much about the nation'…
Tagore’s visit to China in April 1924 was significant, both then and now. The poet’s vision of Pan Asianism saw Asia as a force for the oppressed. As Western dominance wanes, understanding Asia’s two…
Swadeshi Steam, the iconic shipping line, was a symbol of doughty economic nationalism in the early 20th century. Its failure tells us much about the contradictions of the anti-colonial movement.
Driven by a yearning to shed the legacy of past humiliation, defeat, and cultural dispossession, we attempt to obliterate traces of that history. Yet, that very past lingers embodied within us. The…
The Meos of Mewat who suffered so much in the recent violence in Nuh, Haryana, have a history of seeking to live in peace. A writer discovers her grandfather from Mewat who fought for his community…
Food shortages in Travancore during the Second World War led to tens of thousands of deaths. The scale of the mismanagement of relief wore thin the legitimacy of princely rule, setting the stage for…
