Representational Photo

He Taught India How to Laugh at Itself: Reflections on Johnny Walker's Birth Centenary

Impressed by Kazi’s mimicry and raw acting skills, Dutt took a gamble on the bus conductor, cast him, and renamed him after his favourite Scotch — Johnny Walker.

Empowering Grandmothers in India and Africa: Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy, a Life of Relentless Rural Empowerment

Between 2005 and 2011, 140 African women, most of them grandmothers, traveled to Tilonia from villages in Africa to be trained as solar engineers. None of the women could read or write, nor could speak Hindi. So, they were taught using sign language and colour codes during their six-month-long training. By the time they finished the course and returned to their African villages they were qualified to install, maintain, and operate household, solar-powered lighting systems

Monetizing Folklore in Bangladesh's Modern Cultural Economy

Today, Bangladesh's young game designers and animators are going back to their roots. They are creating immersive gaming worlds that are based upon the mud, magic and monsoon of the Bengal Delta. By transforming their oral storytelling traditions into structured digital intellectual property rights, these studios are developing cross-media franchises. 

Revisiting a Bend in the Ganges: Ancient Indian City Offers an Eternal Lesson

Eventually, Kashi became a civilisational capital of India. Poets, saints, scholars, musicians, artisans, and even ordinary citizens helped shape the city. For millennia, seekers and scholars travelled from far and wide in search of knowledge, learning, and even emancipation. Its modern institutions carry that legacy forward. 

More on Culture, Literature, Society and Gender

New-age Indian actors vie with world's best for top awards

Think new-age actors you would count among the best of Bollywood, and you are rightly thinking Ayushmann Khurrana, Nawazuddin Siddiqui or Rajkummar Rao

Khadi Mujib jackets to add sheen to celebrations during PM Modi’s visit to Bangladesh

Khadi, the heritage fabric of India, is all set to catch eyeballs during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Bangladesh on March 26-27

Centuries-old Nepal’s stupas restored, attract locals back

Dating back to centuries, some of Nepal’s stupas were in a worn-out state, covered in layers of dust and grime, and slowly cracking

Banned Pakistani film wins big at Asian World Film Festival

Banned and censored back home, Pakistani film Zindagi Tamasha, which has bagged several international awards, bagged Best Film and Best Actor awards at the prestigious Asian World Film Festival

COVID, bear attacks take a toll on Bhutan's yak herders

Hundreds of yak herders in the remote mountains of Bhutan are facing a tough time due to COVID-19

Sri Lanka to provide insurance cover for stage artists, performers

In a salutary move that sets an example for South Asia, the Sri Lankan government has decided to provide insurance cover for stage artists and performers, according to a report in Colombopage. The move is a significant step in underlining the importance of art and culture in the country

Bhutanese movie industry face financial crisis as theatres still closed

With movie theatres in Bhutan shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and yet to open up even after a year, the film industry is facing an acute financial crisis

British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed makes history, nominated for Oscar

British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed made history as the first Muslim nominated for the Oscar for the lead actor role

Chess and camaraderie at a Kolkata traffic junction

It was around mid-1980s when a few men would be seen huddling together over chess boards every evening after office in between Gariahat and Golpark of then south Calcutta, much before the Gariahat flyover in South Kolkata came up

How Shakespeare became entrenched in 19th-century Bengal

If the works of the poet Virgil could be said to have introduced the flavour of classical literature into medieval Europe, Shakespearean drama performed the same functions in familiarising the new western-educated intelligentsia of nineteenth-century India to the rich literary world of early modern Europe, finds Sahapedia

Where Kolkata's walls breathe art

Indian cities are not known for the walls of buildings transformed into art galleries as in many parts of the world

Indian-origin crypto investor in Singapore buys $69.3 mn artwork

Singapore-based Indian Cryptocurrency investor Metakovan has bought an artwork by digital artist Beeple for $69.3 million

A new destination for Nepal's art, literature, and culture

Nepal's Chaudhary Group, through its Chaudhary Foundation, has established a Unnati Cultural Village (UCV) at Harkapur, Nawalpur, the goal of which is to offer a place where Nepali artists and writers can visit and create their art and literature

Himalayan Bodhisattva tradition at the centre of upcoming New York exhibition

Bringing together a group of paintings, sculptures, ritual objects, and illustrated manuscripts from the 11th-18th centuries, made primarily for Nepal and Tibet's monastic institutions, an upcoming exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art will spotlight the Himalayan Bodhisattva tradition

Lahore University expels couple over video of girl proposing to boy on campus

The administration of the Lahore University in Pakistan expelled two students for what they call the “gross misconduct and violation of the University’s rules”

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