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

A Scientist’s Rebuttal to the "Hellhole" Rhetoric: Why the West Misjudges Global Happiness

The rhetoric targeting these nations ignores the fact that they steer the very firms—Google, Microsoft, Adobe—that sustain Western dominance. This wasn't "loophole" migration. It was strategic resource acquisition. During the Y2K crisis, the U.S. was desperate for Indian talent to prevent a digital infrastructure collapse. 

A Thousand Splendid Wounds: Afghanistan through Hosseini’s prophecy

India's engagement with the Taliban is strategic as much as it is humanitarian, a counterweight to Pakistani influence, a gateway to Central Asian connectivity. And the Taliban's continued erasure of women and minorities sits as a profound moral contradiction at the heart of any diplomatic embrace.

The ‘Pinny’ and the Past: A Bengali Summer Dress That Carries History in Its Threads

Today, the tape-jama survives on the margins of a rapidly changing marketplace. It is still found in local bazaars, though no longer a default festive purchase for children. Yet its significance lies beyond its material presence. The garment endures as a symbol of memory—of simpler times, of long summer afternoons, and of a cultural ethos shaped by resourcefulness and tradition. Its soft cotton folds carry stories of Bengal’s textile heritage, its artisanal practices, and its ability to absorb and reinterpret external influences. In doing so, the pinny becomes more than a childhood dress—it is a living archive of history and identity.

When a Language Dies: The Struggle for Cultural Survival of Bangladesh’s Lushai Community

According to the latest (2024) survey by the International Mother Language Institute, 45 languages have been identified as existing now in Bangladesh out of which there are 11 indigenous languages including Lushai (Mizo)—that have become critically endangered. Based on UNESCO data, a handful of languages which have made it to the endangered list in Bangladesh are in such a forlorn state that only 5-12 older folks from respective communities can still converse in them.

The Buddha Aimed for a Harmonious Society: India's Constitutional Values Were Inspired by His Teachings

Through his principles of love and compassion (karuna), Buddha aimed for a harmonious society free from caste, racism, and injustice. The Sangha he established is not just a community of monks but spiritual fraternity, which emphasizes collective unity, social cohesion and shared ethical living. 

Marvels of a Self-Healing Body: Restoring the Equilibrium

 

Biological sciences tell us that body heals itself to return to homeostatic (state of balance) condition. It says that all the systems in the body are in equilibrium and whenever they go out of balance the healing process starts to bring. it back. This has been the basis of how Chinese and Ayurvedic system of medicines work. 

Asha Bhosle: A Shared Legacy Across Borders

Asha leaves behind a legacy that is as much ours as it is India’s. The phrase “Nightingale of Asia” was coined for Lata, In Pakistan, we always had a prefix for Asha: “Hamari Nightingale.” Our nightingale. In her passing, Pakistan has lost a friend, a teacher, and a voice that made the world feel a little less divided.

End of an Era in Playback Singing in Indian Cinema

The global music industry, where millions of songs are sung, and billions are spent and earned, is a larger story. But the duo’s role as singers remains iconic in India, and perhaps South Asia, where numerous others have come, stayed to make music,  and gone.

How Korean Noodle Brands Captured the Indian Market

The Korean noodle story is not really about noodles. It is about what happens when cultural influence travels faster than commercial infrastructure and faster than regulatory awareness. India's Gen Z - and possibly that of other South Asian countries - did not wait for brands to tell them what to eat. They watched K-dramas, did spice challenges, and built market demand that brands, regulators, and consumer education campaigns have simply not kept up with.

Sufi, Spirit and Resistance: A Layered Work Grounded in South Asian Storytelling Traditions

The Sufi Storyteller speaks to a wider South Asian moment, where Sufi traditions are increasingly invoked as counterpoints to narrowing religious and cultural orthodoxies. By foregrounding storytelling as both a spiritual and political act, Mansab gestures toward the enduring power of narrative to sustain pluralism, recover marginalized voices, and imagine more expansive forms of belonging.

From Death to Immortality: The Mahabharata is Worth Reading - And Questioning

A young woman reading Draupadi's story today and feeling angry about it is not being irreverent. She is doing exactly what you are supposed to do with a text this old and this serious, which is to feel it in your own body and think hard about what it means for where you actually are. We do not honour the Mahabharata by protecting it from that. We honour it by continuing to argue with it

AI and Children: Proper Teaching of AI in Schools a Must to Fire Creativity

Recent evidence also suggests that AI chatbots are being used by teens to plan violence and other harmful activities. Like all technologies, AI is a double-edged sword. It can either be used for very creative work or destructive activities. Thus, there is a tremendous responsibility for teachers to teach the children and youngsters about the positive aspects of AI.

Unity Without Uniformity: Why Diversity Is the Foundation of Peace

If diversity and unity are to guide the future, education must change.Most schools and universities today serve industrial monoculture and economic growth. They train the intellect — the “left brain” — to produce administrators and managers. Rational analysis is important, but it is only half of human potential. We also have a “right brain”: intuitive, holistic, relational. An education that neglects creativity, empathy and ecological awareness produces imbalance. It strengthens uniformity and weakens diversity.

To Become Better AI Designers, Engineers Should Learn Biology

At present all our robots and AI machines, etc. are being designed based upon the human body design.  We are still struggling to design our computers and processors more efficiently, but they can never come any closer to the brain and human thought. The AI priests feel otherwise

Is Cricket and Nepal Premier League Powering a New Sports Economy?

The Nepal Premier League has undeniably changed the atmosphere in this Himalayan nation. It has brought light to Kirtipur nightlife, sponsors to scoreboards, and pride to fans starved of large-scale sporting events. It has also created pockets of income, moments of possibility, and glimpses of what a sports economy could look like.

Newsletter Subscription

The subscriber's email address.
Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.