British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed made history as the first Muslim nominated for the Oscar for the lead actor role
When Poison Enters the System: Impunity, Vigilantism and South Asia’s Internal Security Failure
Across South Asia, the difference between prejudice and collapse is not the existence of hate. Every society has it in varying shades. The difference is whether the majoritarian state internalizes hate against the ‘other’, whether FIRs get diluted, trials get delayed, mobs get garlanded and impunity driven violence against minorities becomes low-cost. When that happens, the poison is not outside the system. It becomes the system.
In the Quiet Spaces Between Strangers, Sonia Bahl’s Eighteen Inches Apart
And perhaps this is precisely what many readers, particularly South Asian readers navigating fractured contemporary lives, have been missing without fully realising it: fiction willing to slow down long enough to notice the fragile, passing intimacies through which people continue surviving one another.
Robert A.F. Thurman, an academic with a Buddhist monk’s soul
Thurman said that Tibet was not an individual nation-state question but something that goes far beyond that. “It is not about a people yearning for freedom from an invading state. It is about a very valuable society struggling to keep its centuries-old tradition of intellectual evolution alive.” He said that while he was hopeful that the problem would be resolved soon, “and during His Holiness’ lifetime,” it was hard to put a timeframe to it.
A White Strip Exposes New Political Faultlines in Cosmopolitan Mumbai
The perceived push from a political leadership that has roots in Gujarat, the split in the locally rooted Shiv Sena that was engineered, the resentment it brewed among ordinary citizens and the history of Maharashtra -- which was born on May 1, 1960 after a bitter struggle that split the erstwhile Bombay State into two distinct linguistic states of Maharashtra and Gujarat -- are all complex and contributory factors to the evolving political unrest in middle-class Mumbai.
More on Culture and Society
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”
A statue stolen 37 years ago returns to Nepal
Thirty-seven years after it was stolen and subsequently landed in the US, a stone stela of Lakshmi-Narayan depicting Hindu deities of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi, is finally returning to its original home in Patan, a city located just across the Bagmati river from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal
Bangladesh gets first transgender news presenter, creates history
For 29-year-old Tashnuva Anan Shishir and the transgender community globally, it was indeed a historic day. The woman, who survived bullying, assault and suicide attempts, has become the first transgender to become a newsreader in Bangladesh
Livelihood impacted by COVID, famous blind Nepali singer finds solace in music
He led a very tough life. Orphaned at the age of one and losing his eyesight due to a serious head injury, he lived with his grandmother, who would do menial work or beg for survival
Shyam Benegal's biopic 'Bangabandhu' to immortalise Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, bolster ties
The 50th year of Independence is special for Bangladesh as lakhs of Bengalis died fighting for the cause of freedom. It is equally important for India as it played a pivotal role in helping them to overthrow the tyrannical rule of West Pakistan
Wildlife conservation in Kashmir: Changing attitudes
The role of wildlife conservationists and rescuers such as Aaliya Mir is increasingly becoming important in the wake of frequent human-wildlife conflicts in Jammu & Kashmir
Amitabh Bachchan to be honoured with 2021 FIAF Award
Indian megatart Amitabh Bachchan will be conferred upon with the prestigious 2021 FIAF Award by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the worldwide organisation of film archives and museums from across the world, at a virtual showcase scheduled to take place on March 19
Canada's dancing Sikh spreads positivity through bhangra
A Canadian Sikh has gone viral, and not surprisingly it is bhangra that has made him a darling of social media
