
If there was ever any doubt that the current dispensation is compromising all institutions in this country three judgments of various courts across the nation in the last week have decisively proved that both individual…
Read moreOpinion by Shashi Tharoor | Congress Must Point Out That We Too Share Hinduism We can turn the tables on the BJP by making them accountable for all the economic failures on their watch –…
Read more“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed into a gigantic insect.” You might recognise the opening lines of Franz Kafka`s novella Metamorphosis: these are some of the most famous opening lines…
Read moreBarely a year ago, as the Bharatiya Janata Party swept the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, 2019 seemed like an open and shut case for the rest of the political firmament in India. Yet a…
Read moreSophia and Tariq were part of a large, noisy family. There were plenty of cousins with foreign accents and grand aunts with loud cackles. They gathered in Mumbai every couple of years to attend weddings,…
Read moreBritish efforts led to the discovery of Sanchi stupas, Ajanta caves, and deciphering of the Brahmi script thus enabling reconstruction of a good chunk of our history. [caption id="attachment_3674" align="alignnone" width="1268"] Southern gateway of Stupa…
Read moreIf big politics is now mostly about headline management, BJP has emerged its unassailable practitioner Look back on the headlines screaming out of your front pages and causing prime time shoutrage about a week ago.…
Read moreStrand Bookstall closed down just a few days ago to much sadness and many tears. But it did have a long innings. Tekkate Narayan Shanbhag – to give his full name -- started his store…
Read moreFor India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, religion is not a matter of personal belief, but a key feature of traditional identity politics and crucial to maintaining social order, ensuring discipline and conformity, and preventing radical…
Read moreTwo of Mumbai`s biggest public events happen within one month of each other. There`s the Mumbai Marathon in January (described in the last Notebook) and there's the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in February. Just concluded,…
Read moreThe big and stately Gulmohar in our driveway hasn’t shed a leaf this winter. I hadn’t paid attention to its rebellion until I browsed through my Instagram photos. Two identical photos of the Gulmohar (one…
Read moreA candle for Ankit ... and his lost love and a flickering secularism. A worrying silence echoes in the public sphere by Teesta Setalvad It was an act of violence and terror, albeit of a…
Read moreThis article was originally published in Lokmat Times.
Read more2018 may unfold a politics of performance over identity, of hope over fear in India Gazing into a crystal ball is never easy, especially since these days the image tends to get cloudy rather unexpectedly.…
Read moreMumbai Notebook January 16, 2018 Delhiwallas love Mumbai in winter. For one thing, our temperatures are quite balmy compared to the capital`s – a ‘Cold Wave’ here means 13 degrees. For another, Delhi`s smog is…
Read moreSixty eight per cent of the time of the previous Lok Sabha was lost to BJP-led disruptions. It is hardly surprising that UPA members have decided to emulate their predecessors. As Parliament’s delayed winter session…
Read moreMumbai Notebook by Anil Dharker January 3, 2018 For the first column of January one should begin with best wishes for a happy new year. Unfortunately, 2018 has started on a sombre note. Just…
Read moreNo one should be surprised at Union minister of state Anantkumar Hegde’s remark on Sunday that “the BJP had come to power to change the Constitution” and that it would “do so in the near…
Read moreThe battle over Bhima-Koregaon is not just one of history, it is a battle for identity and equality. The late Kannada writer U.R. Ananthamurthy once told me a story. His PhD guide and he were…
Read moreMumbai Notebook January 3, 2018 For the first column of January one should begin with best wishes for a happy new year. Unfortunately, 2018 has started on a sombre note. Just as 2017 was about…
Read moreOn Stage January 2018 An odd thought struck me when I went to Prithvi House in Juhu to bid farewell to the mortal remains of Shashi Kapoor: Here was the man universally regarded as Indian…
Read moreThe only way we can confront him is by rebuilding our democracy into one which protects the likes of Afrazul and Akhlaq. Shambhulal is the middle-class protagonist of Hindutva who destroys our secular dreams and our…
Read moreMumbai Notebook December 18, 2017 How would I like to remember Shashi Kapoor? I was privileged to have him as a friend, and so saw him at many stages of his life. But as a…
Read moreMumbai Notebook by Anil Dharker December 6, 2017 Almost a decade ago, a group of prominent citizens of Mumbai came to me and said, “Isn`t a literary festival in Mumbai a good idea?” Of…
Read moreThese days I long for a daily which just gives good news. I propose to start a daily and will be shortly writing to Mr Adani and the two Ambanis for financial support. Am thinking…
Read more[caption id="attachment_3393" align="alignnone" width="1240"] Harvey Weinstein after the 2016 Academy awards ceremony. Photograph: Axel Koester/Corbis via Getty Images[/caption] How did he get away with it? We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.…
Read moreWINNERS LIST What’s The Scene? Noyonika Goswami and Maschio D. Unnati Dholakia and Saksham Jain Shekhani Aishah and Christopher D. Script Your Tales Tanay Kadel and Dhruv Verma Mitali Muralidhar and Tanvi Chamboowala Sujay Choksey…
Read moreLITERATURE LIVE! 36O@CAMPUS STORY AND POETRY WRITING CONTEST RESULTS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BY LAST NAME) STORY WINNERS KANIKA JAIN ANINTHITHA NATH SHIFA ZOYA POETRY WINNERS JINIYA CHATTOPADHYAY SAHIR AVIK D'SOUZA ROHITA RAJU CONSOLATORY MENTIONS…
Read moreOn Stage : November 2017 by Anil Dharker A word one hears more and more often nowadays is ‘dystopian’. You come across it in book or film reviews: ’the writer`s/director`s dystopian vision of the world’…
Read moreThe Presidential Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Ashwani Kumar [caption id="attachment_3344" align="aligncenter" width="940"] PM Narendra Modi in the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort | Source : @narendramodi[/caption] There is an unconventional…
Read moreLiterature Live! 360@Campus announces its Story and Poetry Writing Contest 2017! Prompts will be provided on the spot on the basis of which participants have to craft their entry. Participants can come any time between 1:30…
Read moreMonologues of a Selfie by Ashwani Kumar Hey, you love me. Does it matter? I don’t need anyone. I love me. I say it loudly. I love me. I am not someone. This is my body-made…
Read moreOn Stage September 2017 by Anil Dharker As I sit down to write this in mid-August, news has just come in that Pahlaj Nihalani has had his scissors taken away. To say that Nihalani was…
Read moreMumbai Notebook August 8, 2017 There are mentalists in many parts of the world. But for some reason, many of them are from Israel. This may have to do with the fact that the ‘father’…
Read moreProfound transformation and extraordinary stories: India's incredible journey from independence to modern nation by Shashi Tharoor As India turns 70 today, politician and acclaimed author Shashi Tharoor writes about its past and its present. [caption…
Read moreArticle for The Independent August 15, 2017 Anil Dharker Mine is a family of hoarders. Nothing worth any money sadly, but perhaps full of precious memories? Yet what memories can old bank statements (in…
Read moreMumbai Notebook July 26, 2017 by Anil Dharker Victorias may finally ride into the sunset. For outsiders that sentence will make no sense, but Mumbaikars will know what it means: that the familiar clip-clop of…
Read moreSixteen million dollars – roughly Rs 104 crore – would be a modest price to pay for a Picasso or a Van Gogh, such are the crazy amounts auction houses run up nowadays. That`s probably…
Read moreElegy for E She’s dead, you still dial her number. You dial Fix, you dial Dutch Painting, you dial Almond Leaf. It always connects. She always answers the phone herself. How does she do…
Read moreOn Stage by Anil Dharker They don't use the proverb 'Make hay while the sun shines' as a slogan for one obvious reason - the sun rarely shines at the Hay Festival. The sun could…
Read moreLondon Notebook by Anil Dharker Not by design but by pure chance, I happened to be in Londonduring two important events - the Brexit vote, and now the general elections. The results of both were unexpected…
Read moreOh Romeo, Romeo by Keki N. Daruwalla What next for UP police? Keeping a headcount of legit butchers, and confiscating meat cleavers? I am told there is much excitement in Firenze, Milano and Roma over…
Read moreA dearth of designers by Quasar Thakore Padamsee Since theatre activity was sporadic and also cash-strapped, designers find it virtually impossible to make a living off of it. There is no question that theatre in…
Read moreGarima and a Buried Fragrance by Keki Daruwalla Taken from Keki Daruwalla's book 'Daniell Comes to Judgement' I wake up at four in the morning. Bad time to go to the loo. When you come back…
Read moreMumbai Notebook by Anil Dharker Because of travel deadlines, this is being written before June 2 which is (or ’was’ when you read this), World Environment Day. I don`t think I am sticking my neck out…
Read moreTime for a change by Shashi Tharoor Back in 1974, as a teenage collegian, I spent a summer holiday at the tea estate of a classmate’s father near Jorhat in Assam. One of the first…
Read moreThe shadow of the past by Keki Daruwalla The past is destiny in a way. The past also embodies the concept of determinism, something that cramps elbow room, free will of the present. In politics,…
Read moreModi Tries Hard, But Foreign Policy Needs More Substance by Shashi Tharoor As Chairman of Parliament’s External Affairs Committee, I have always proudly articulated our tradition that political differences stop at the water’s edge –…
Read moreOne of the late R K Laxman`s best ‘You Said It’ cartoons featured the city`s favourite subject, its roads. Laxman`s befuddled Common Man, umbrella in hand, glasses in place, is peering into a large…
Read moreSchool’s out, what should our children do? by Manu Joseph As children spend summer vacations preparing for the serious business of life, are they losing their ability to practise boredom? In the summers, city children…
Read moreAishwaryaa on the apple box... by Shobhaa De A ravishingly beautiful young woman with fresh mehendi drying on her palms, walked upto me at a high profile wedding in Udaipur recently, and whispered, “I am…
Read moreThe Last Bastion of a Profitable Press by Shashi Tharoor NEW DELHI – Around the world, newspapers seem to be facing imminent extinction, as a mass exodus to the Internet causes their circulation to slump…
Read moreIs the future of design industry collaborative? by Aparna Piramal Raje The emerging trend of multidisciplinary collaborations provides opportunities to innovate through unconventional means. [caption id="attachment_3132" align="aligncenter" width="621"] Sculptor Durga Gawde and Vaibhav Chhabra at…
Read moreJapan’s Greatest Novelist Junichiro Tanizaki’s “The Maids” presents a servants’-eye view of upper-class life. By Chandrahas Choudhury Novels, like life, tend not to take much notice of maids. In most novels domestics serve only to…
Read moreLessons I have learned post 40 - The stretch that transformed perspective by Gauri Sinh Stepping out of one’s comfort zone, especially post 40, is no doubt stressful. But sometimes, going beyond boundaries, as my…
Read moreA year of reading Adam Smith by Chandrahas Choudhury The founding father of liberal economics was also a brilliant philosopher, historian and prose stylist. After many months spent in his company, the reader learns of…
Read moreMUMBAI NOTEBOOK By Anil Dharker Mumbai has a weighty problem. Her name is Eman. By now, of course, everyone who keeps up with news would know about Eman Ahmed Abdulati, the Egyptian woman who was…
Read moreJUDICIAL OVERREACH By Anil Dharker For the first time ever, a river has been recognised as a living entity with the same legal rights as a human being. Last month,Te Awa Tupua, New Zealand`s…
Read moreOn Stage. May 2017. by Anil Dharker When is a black actor black? And when is a black actor not black? These questions arose out of my last On Stage column which was about Mozart and Salieri,…
Read moreThe City and the Writer: In Mumbai with Chandrahas Choudhury By Nathalie Handal [caption id="attachment_3078" align="aligncenter" width="530"] Chandrahas Choudhury. Courtesy of the author.[/caption] If each city is like a game of chess, the day when…
Read moreBritain's Empire was a matter for pride, not guilt - as we Indians know by Zareer Masani The Queen’s 91st birthday, last Friday, was an opportunity to reflect upon her reign and to replay those…
Read moreGabriel García Márquez, The Art of Fiction No. 69 interviewed by Peter H. Stone Gabriel García Márquez was interviewed in his studio/office located just behind his house in San Angel Inn, an old and lovely section,…
Read moreMumbai Diary by Anil Dharker Do other cities have famous landmarks, so famous that they are recognised even by the notoriously ignorant tribe of taxi drivers, yet do not actually exist? Mumbai had three: Kemp`s…
Read moreBook Review : Age of Anger: A History of the Present by Pankaj Mishra by Ashwani Kumar Age Of Anger is vintage Pankaj Mishra, the literary iconoclast. He is also a maverick political thinker—edgy, sly…
Read moreImagine being brought up in a two-storeyed house made of exposed concrete and brick. The living and dining areas are airy, double-height rooms with a bridge that runs across, connecting the two wings of the…
Read moreNawabs Nudes Noodles …. Nerves and Numbers by Ambi M G Parameswaran Circa 2000. My team walked into my room a little distraught. The idea they thought was a winner was shot down by the…
Read moreWarren Hastings ‘Loved India a Little More Than His Own Country’. OPEN ESSAY by Zareer Masani AS WE CELEBRATE 70 years of independence, is it time to acknowledge that it was the first British Governor-…
Read moreHigh on the Holiday Index Shashi Tharoor I write these words on a long weekend holiday for Parliament. Tuesday is Ram Navami, so the Speaker has obligingly given us Monday off. But I do so…
Read moreIndia Conquered: Britain’s Raj & the Chaos of Empire by Jon Wilson Book Review by Zareer Masani Another history of the Raj invites comparison with its two most distinguished predecessors, Penderel Moon’s The British Conquest &…
Read moreThe wealth of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation IT IS A truth universally acknowledged that the BMC is in want of good management. For the uninitiated, those initials once stood for the Bombay Municipal Corporation. But when…
Read moreMany modern apologists for British colonial rule in India no longer contest the basic facts of imperial exploitation and plunder, rapacity and loot, which are too deeply documented to be challengeable. Instead they offer a…
Read moreI am disappointed that my cricket hero Virender Sehwag chose to enter the wholly politicised debate over Gurmehar Kaur’s words by saying, “I didn’t score two triple centuries, my bat did.” Not everyone might agree…
Read moreOn Stage March 2017 The talking point last month was the Symphony Orchestra of India`s production of Puccini`s La Boheme. The first question was, “Why is SOI calling it La Boheme Revisted?” Opera buffs opined it…
Read moreWhat Indian politicians can learn from Shakespeare’s play. THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY of the death of William Shakespeare has come and gone and was dutifully registered in our media with a slew of articles about his…
Read moreCatch a shooting star If you proceed cautiously holding a man-sized kerchief in your hand You might chance upon the shooting star that fell behind the building that faces our house. That derelict…
Read moreJaipur Diary January 30 2017 A local newspaper in Jaipur interviewed some of the bright young things thronging the packed central square at the event venue. “‘Festival dressing is the in thing’ “’ exclaims Juhi,…
Read moreTOO MUCH WILL BE LOST IF WE DON’T SPEAK Muslim Women Lead the Way! Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz We as Muslims are going through very difficult times. There is Islamophobia on one hand and an…
Read moreSongs of the Ocean A maiden voyage for any new sailor is an unforgettable experience. In my case, I remember getting much more than I had bargained for. My husband’s merchant navy vessel- a seventy…
Read moreSAMPURNA CHATTARJI ‘Why does it have to be a poet?’ A piece dedicated to all the poets I have read, translated, loved Space Gulliver’s sadness is monumental Monumental her desire for friends Who…
Read moreEDM, as you would know if you are young, ( and are behaving young anywhere in the world), is a happening thing. However, if you are young in Bengaluru or in Mumbai, you would know…
Read moreTRUE LIES Anil Dharker A new year is a time of look forward to new beginnings, new adventures, new explorations. It says something about human beings’ innate optimism, that however bad the previous year…
Read moreBombay Diary January 9, 2017 About a month ago, the Maharashtra government changed the name of Mumbai`s Central Railway terminus and its international airport. Again. To recap, the railway terminus at Bori Bunder, a…
Read moreBombay Diary January 2, 2017 Resuming this column after a mere six weeks, I find that the whole world has turned topsy-turvy. For starters (and middles and enders), Donald trumped Hilary. And Narendra Modi,…
Read moreThe road to new Medina. THE YEAR 2017 will mark the 70th anniversary of the birth of India and Pakistan. While official Independence celebrations will no doubt be organised on both sides of the Radcliffe…
Read moreTo Kill An Arab A Short Story by Sándor Jászberényi We put the two machine guns on the kitchen table. “I’ll take them to headquarters,” said the colonel to the boys, who then stepped…
Read moreThis article was originally posted in The Huffington Post on 17th November 2016 Anybody who’s somebody in India’s sprawling literary world — author, auteur, acolyte — will be at, or will want to be…
Read moreShakespeare Raise the curtain, Shakespeare, Your characters wait in the wings, Adorned in their costumes Their make-up done Their lines memorized – Lines that resonate Four-hundred years later With the same conflicts: To be…
Read moreTHE SAME NEWS Every day the same newspaper column Gulps of the same brackish news Every day the same mouthful of promises; Sentences dissected Each word chewed again and again How long can…
Read moreShobhaa De: I will always remain a curious journalist, permanently in search of a story (Interview by Prayag Arora - Desai on November 5, 2016) You can’t talk about literature in the city of…
Read moreOn Stage November 2016 Every November, Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest attaches itself firmly to almost all venues of NCPA. That`s because Mumbai’s international literary festival is not just a Literature Live! event, or a Tata event,…
Read more1st Prize - Existentialist Conspiracy Club by Kalpak Bhave Yesterday, I saw you look at the stars, Our bottoms cold on the marble floor, A garden of light above our head, None of us…
Read more1st Prize - “LORD OF THE RINGS AN UNTOLD STORY” (parody) By Aditya Mewati and Isha Mahajan The irony of life is that everyone is going to die but unexpected things tend to occur at…
Read moreDad's the Word (Excerpt from the Fatherhood Memoir) I was sitting in the rocking chair that no longer rocks, twisting myself around so that my book caught the best of the light from the lamp…
Read moreReading to Borges THROUGH a series of strange circumstances, I had the opportunity as a British schoolboy to read aloud to Jorge Luis Borges. I was 16 when I first climbed the staircase to…
Read moreIn the 2016 edition of the Tata Literature Live MyStory Contest, we had over 1850 entries and 30,000 votes. Below are the five winners picked by our jury on the basis of merit. They are…
Read moreMountain Echoes (Written for Dhaka Tribune on September 5, 2016) Nothing quite prepares you for the magical landing in Paro; one of the world’s most dangerous airports. It’s breathtaking setting amid green peaks of Bhutan’s Himalayan range…
Read moreAmish Tripathi: In our culture, we've always believed that even the Gods cannot judge (Published in FirstPost on October 15, 2016, Written by Prayag Arora - Desai and Sohini Guha) Since his unprecedented…
Read morePaws for thought Could feeling for one stray cat foster a community in our oft-hard hearted city? By Gauri Sinh Come to think of it, I cannot even recall his colouring. He came into…
Read moreSomething of Nothing (Written for London Library magazine) Rakesh winced as the car lurched into a pothole. A tremor of annoyance radiated through the hand that he rested on the steering wheel. He had taken his…
Read moreIn the 2016 edition of the Tata Literature Live MyStory Contest, we had over 1850 entries and 30,000 votes. Below are the five winners picked by our jury from the 25 entries with the maximum…
Read moreThe Journey is the Destination © Ashwin Sanghi (Written for the Times of India - Speaking Tree) What is spirituality? Numerous sages, philosophers and thinkers down the ages have attempted to answer that question. Many…
Read moreCoffee and the Writer Can it be Tuesday ?? The years days and seconds roll into one as I sit in a small hotel room in Delaware and my non conforming memories try to follow the…
Read morePatna Roughcuts (Written for Granta on March 31, 2015) 1 When I was a boy in Patna in the seventies, the Boring Road crossroad boasted two businesses that were popular among the locals. One was Quality…
Read moreThe Many Faces of Lord Ganesha(Written for The Taj Magazine in the First Quarter, 2002) The remover of all obstacles and bestower of wishes, he is worshipped in myriad expressions of form and material…
Read moreSecular Confessions (Written for Mint on July 8, 2016) I push open the door of dark, weathered wood. There are always a few seconds of suspense before you enter an unfamiliar church. What exactly is…
Read moreAll that Matters (Written for Times of India on July 31, 2016) For Swachh Bharat, we must teach our kids to pack light, flush right Dear Mr Modi, I admire the Swachh Bharat campaign. I'm…
Read moreThe 'I' in Eve (Written for The Hindu on April 30, 2016) Why should women artistes be apologetic about the use of the first person singular in prose and poetry? At a recent literature fest, a…
Read moreThe Lore of Renuka (Written for mid-day on April 22, 2012) A sacred narrative needs to be distinguished from a parable (story with moral ending), a fable (story with animals that express human emotions),…
Read moreSet Kanhaiya Free, Dissent is not Anti - National (Written for NDTV.com on February 24, 2016) A great deal has already been written about the arrest of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and the ensuing national…
Read moreDear Kanhaiya Kumar (Written for scroll.in on March 16, 2016) Post Script This is first time I am starting a letter with a Post Script instead of ending with one. Dear Kanhaiya Kumar, I finished…
Read moreLOUNGING ABOUT It's important to be lazy ! To make room in one's life for periods of laziness .. not weeks or months (necessarily) but at the very least happy little blobs of time that are sufficient…
Read moreEvelyn Waugh: 50 years on In 1933, a group of naked Amazonian Indians who had never before seen a white man encountered a young traveller from North London wrapped in a red blanket, lame…
Read moreRituals of Writing (Written for Hindustan Times for May 3rd, 2015) I am writing this on a train. It is dark outside, the dark window reflecting the interior of the bright-lit train car, the beige plastic…
Read moreThe sanctioned, sleeping beauties awake (Written for Gateway House on June 2nd, 2016) There is something about American sanctions on countries. They are thorough. They are brutal. They strangle the financial system and beggar the population,…
Read moreA conundrum called Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India. Kiran Nagarkar (Written for Sueddeutsche Zeitung) Let me start with an anecdote. Just a few months after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India,…
Read moreThe cause of problems - What some Kashmiris owe other Kashmiris (Written for The Telegraph on September 3rd, 2016) I was reading a recent interview with Adonis, the great Syrian poet who is frequently mentioned as…
Read moreToo many mistakes - What the rest of India owes Kashmir and Kashmiris (Written for The Telegraph on September 2nd, 2016) In the late summer and early autumn of 2010, the valley of Kashmir was gripped…
Read moreHappy Under the Padishah (Written for Outlook India Magazine) It’s a measure of Tipu Sultan’s charisma that, two centuries on, an Australian historian has spent most of her academic life studying the man and his reign.…
Read moreThe Man Who Invented Poetry The violence and passion of Afzal Ahmed Syed (Written for Caravan Magazine on June 1st, 2016) My first encounter with the work of the Karachi-based Urdu poet Afzal Ahmed Syed left me…
Read moreTHE GALLIC SHRUG SURVIVES IN NORTH AMERICA ! How cool it is to see people talking on their mobile phones in the province of Quebec, here in Canada. The only thing that seems to be moving when…
Read more10 rules of Writing (Written for The Indian Quarterly) Illustration by Hazel Karkaria When I was promoted to the rank of professor, the library at the university where I was then employed asked me to…
Read moreA Lovely Wedding (Written for Day of Reckoning) There were times when words seemed to have lost their meaning. This was one of them. Vira was on the phone telling Priti about the lovely wedding…
Read moreHANGOVERS (For Independent dated December 13th, 2014) According to Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man Despite authorities tightening their grip on the causes of hangovers, the hangover itself enjoys halcyon days. It can only mean one thing: authorities…
Read moreAustralian genius Christina Stead showed me what a novel is for. Anna Funder Only children can see their parents from the inside. This is what novelists never grow out of: sitting quietly in the…
Read moreHarsingar Catapult - Feb 29th, 2016 “I didn’t want him to be the one who was disrobing Zeenat Aman. No one who was even half-literate in Hindi in the early seventies would have missed the…
Read moreRequiem for the BDD Chawls Kiran Nagarkar (Originally pulished in The Hindu on Jan 24th, 2016) Illustration - Satwik Gade It appears that by now it’s well nigh impossible to de-link my two protagonists, Ravan and…
Read moreLiterature Live! is excited to announce the second edition of our Creative Writing Contest - Story and Poetry Writing! Come on over and show off the writer that lives inside you. - Participants will be…
Read moreIn her younger days, my sister Minal Dharker was an accomplished Bharat Natyam dancer. Watching her practice, rehearse and perform with her guru, Kubernath Tanjorkar, I became reasonably familiar with the idiom of Bharat Natyam.…
Read moreRegular readers of this column will know that Literature Live!, the little organisation I started, runs the annual Mumbai International Literary Festival every November. In addition, there are fortnightly Literature Live! Evenings when writers talk…
Read moreStudents at SNDT College, Churchgate were delighted to be introduced to Literature Live! workshop on Narrative Conflict. Despite the capacity of 25 people, double the number showed up, actively participating in the workshop.
Read moreStudents at St. Andrews were delighted to be introduced to Literature Live! workshop on Narrative Conflict. Despite the capacity of 25 people, double the number showed up, actively participating in the workshop.
Read moreTo those who are disappointed with India`s Olympic performance, I would say only one thing: what were you expecting? If you know anything about world standards in athletics and field games, you know that our…
Read moreIn Bihar, drinking liquor is worse than terror,rape or murder. If that sounds like an outlandish statement, consider the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016 and the revised Bihar Special Courts Act through which special courts…
Read moreStratford upon Avon in the summer of 2016 is the place to be. After all, this is Shakespeare's birthplace and this is the 400th anniversary of his death. The Bard, as Shakespeare is universally known,…
Read moreBombay Diary July 29, 2016 A few years ago, when for my sins, I was a member of the Bombay Gym`s Managing Committee, I tried to liven up the club`s library with ‘Meet the Author’…
Read moreWhen you see photographs of a former Chief Justice of India on the sports pages, it is a clear sign that judicial overreach has reached a new high in our country. From dictating the age…
Read moreBombay Diary July 22, 2016 A friend said to me, “Your London Diaries are far more entertaining than your Bombay Diaries.” She then added a smiley to show this was a light hearted comment –…
Read morePolaris kickstarts the Department of mass media festivals in Mumbai and is a much coveted one. This year Lit live! 360 @campus collaborated with them to hold a workshop on Writing Sonnets by Sampurna Chattarji…
Read moreENGLAND DIARY JULY 15, 2016 "Sylvia and I are delighted to welcome you to our home for the 28th annual Celebrity Cricket Match in aid of Wellbeing of Women." So began the letter from Sir…
Read moreLondon Diary / July 9, 2016 July in England means the sun occasionally coming out of purdah, locals walking about in flimsy tee shirts while we jettison our overcoats for pullovers. It means children tugging…
Read moreIndian Express What is Brexit about? Is it about Britain leaving the European Union? Is it about the disruption this has caused in the world economy? Is it about hyper-nationalism and the fear of immigrants…
Read moreBombay Diary July 1, 2016 If you go past Mumbai`s Brabourne Stadium, you will see a sign telling you that the offices of BCCI (Board of Control of Cricket in India) lie in the vicinity.…
Read moreBombay Diary 24th June 2016 Many years ago, a British literary magazine held a contest for the most boring headline. The winner went something like this: SMALL EARTHQUAKE IN CHILE/ NOT MANY INJURED. What would…
Read moreBombay Diary 17th June 2016 India must be the most movie-crazy, star-obsessed country in the world. Yet, how many books are there on Bollywood heroes and heroine? Very, very few. One of the reasons could…
Read moreLiterature Live, in association with Theatre Group, calls for entries for playwriting for the Sultan Padamsee Award for Playwriting 2016, to recognize upcoming talent in the same field. For more details, write to theatregroup@shunyata.in .
Read moreHere is everything you need to know about attending Mumbai's largest literature festival. Passes to the festival are available from the morning of the day of the session. Register and collect your passes for…
Read moreHead over to our schedule and pick your literary workshop of choice! Register now as limited seats are available.
Read moreBY MEGHA SOLANKI SOUND OK HORAN Do you know that sound? The rumbling monster taking over. Mystical it looks, Monstrous it feels; There's power in its body, Force in its thrusts; You feel like ignoring it…
Read moreBY PRAKRITI VASHISHTHA LIQID TEA AVAILABLE HERE Tea, for Dadi is milky but without the cream Dadi's son, however, relishes the aftertaste of cardamom. Dadi's better half, would deride the drink to be the…
Read moreBY KAAJAL AHUJA Thank You for the Inconvenience I walked through a garden far somewhere A canvas painted in the month of May But the painting brought me no delight And each step that…
Read moreBY VAISHNAVI PATIL & RYAN D’SOUZA “Swad Zindigi Ka”, she sighs as she licks away the last crumbs of chocolate layered wafers of her cornetto, lacing the tip of her weathered fingers. “Did you…
Read moreBY MAYANK SOOD AND TIGRAN WADIA THE MAD MAN’S CONSPIRACY ‘‘Jaago grahak Jaago’’, screamt the mad man. Nobody paid heed to him. He continued with his endeavour. All would hear him, none would listen. Sujoy had…
Read moreBY SHASHWAT KARKARE & SAHEJ MARWAH “Doodh si safai, corruption se mukti yehi mera vaada hai,”the candidate, Mr Goswami, said during his speech while addressing the huge crowd gathered before him commemorating the upcoming…
Read moreBY GIRISH RASAM & SAEE PATKAR “Dimag ki batti jala de”, said Dr. John Waghmare while offering his joint to Shairlak Khan, the best consulting detective Bhiwandi has ever seen. Just this morning, Dr.…
Read moreBY AMALE NARAYAN & MAVIS RODRIGUES “Thodi se pet puja karoge?” asked Elisabeth as Ramesh drove past her father’s office in Colaba. The Hindi words sounded heavy and uncomfortable on her British tongue. The…
Read moreSo story? I've been thinking for two days about a story I'll write here, since I registered for the event. There's nothing interesting I can write and shoot a series of photographs for it. It…
Read moreA small story of a man, who came to Mumbai to make up his dreams. Works hard day and night, doing odd jobs but still have faith in himself. After struggling the whole day he…
Read moreCindrella Paradie Cinderella in the modern world. He is the step brother of Sheldon, Zenior, Dylan and Calvin. Cinderella is burden with all the work at home and has no social life. He goes to…
Read moreHere’s the thing about smoking in Kasol. You shouldn’t do it. He took three intermittent breaks to catch his breath, along the - what the locals typically called ‘Pandraha-foot maap’, or The Scale of…
Read moreAmar held my hand firmly. He had a charming smile. Baba trusted him- " You are meant for someone who will protect you." I was a ten year old girl and the only child of…
Read moreMeant for someone else by Sharon It was half past noon and I was lost in Fountainhas. The Goa Tourism brochure urged me to " explore the historic Old Quarter of Panjim on foot" but…
Read moreWALK AWAY by Shalini Mother was furious, he needs to listen to me! " I'm his mother, of course I know better than him...." Father tried his best to convince him, " Son, it's not…
Read moreTHE QUICK STEP by Kelly Woller " But darling, I love you!" " Do you really expect me to believe that, you cheating scoundrel?" " Trust me when I say it's over" " She's here…
Read moreMEANT FOR SOMEONE ELSE. – Divya Samtani No amount of books on childbirth you memorise can prepare you for the excruciating, body tearing pain that comes in the chance circumstance you push another human out…
Read moreONE LAST DANCE by Lekha Nambiar My crane tipped junk into the landfill. The stench of decomposing waste filled the air. The sky was dark, for a 'bright' summer day. It started to rain- I…
Read moreSowing and Weeping by Jai Subramanian The last time we met you’d said there was no way to fix something so far beyond dead. “Rotting” was the word you’d used. Rotting for the world to…
Read moreFaded Smiles by Ritu Poddar She sent her son, to far off lands for degrees & better tomorrows She lived alone, & aged alone Behind her wrinkles, hid the sorrows. Over the phone he said,…
Read moreThe Heart Knows by Priyal Panchal Why don’t I ever bite that dog in return? Why is that spider spinning webs of sorrow never shun? Why do I give that parasite right over my body?…
Read moreLiterature in the Australian Commonwealth characteristically expresses collective values, perhaps more so than in other parts of the world. Even the experiences of the individual are viewed through a representative lens, with the aim of…
Read moreIt was more than two hours past midnight, yet Ramulu was unable to sleep. He has been a small scale farmer and the successively failing monsoon and mounting debts were pulling down his morale. Year…
Read moreThey looked down upon him. All of them. His favourite time of the day was when the Sun stood behind him. He looked down then, at the ground, to see an almighty long shadow of…
Read moreRevathy "Amma", her voice goes as she strides barefoot towards the entrance door. The inkling of her silver anklets still echoing in the silent dark room. Her forehead kissed with a big red moon placed…
Read moreIt is not just worn at weddings, parties and ceremonies It is also worn at a construction site Amidst the cement, sand, gravel Under the ruthless sun Over a parched throat and blistered feet It…
Read moreThe pyre smolders wetly under the tin shed, from which grey afternoon rain still drips; echoing a family’s grief. sifting through grandmother’s still-warm ashes, my fingers taste the wood-smoke and sour-milk scent of funeral rites;…
Read moreIt was a sultry Kolkata afternoon right in the middle of my summer vacation. The heat had climbed to a level that one might get a stroke just by poking his head out of the…
Read moreIt was a sultry Kolkata afternoon right in the middle of my summer vacation. The heat had climbed to a level that one might get a stroke just by poking his head out of the…
Read more2015: The Year in Literature There's no denying it. It's been a busy year in the world of literature, and it isn't even over yet. The United States alone published more than 300,000 new titles…
Read moreAlanna Mitchell is an award-winning Canadian journalist and author, who writes about science and social trends. Her most recent full-length book, Sea Sick:The Global Ocean in Crisis, is an international best seller that won the prestigious US-based Grantham…
Read moreArshia Sattar has a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago's Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations. Her translations of the Sanskrit texts Kathasaritsagara (1993) and Valmiki's Ramayana (1996) have been published by Penguin Books.…
Read moreTwo venues: NCPA, Nariman Point and Prithvi Theatre, Juhu. Germaine Greer, Vikram Seth, Kiran Nagarkar and over 120 celebrated writers and thinkers from across the worl. Presenting seven literary awards. Media registrations open today. Entry…
Read moreHere`s yet another special Literature Live! Evening. This features Shashi Tharoor, star MP, wonderful writer and speaker, in conversation with Anil Dharker about his new book Why I am a Hindu. The book is an eloquent…
Read moreIf you like cricket, this is an evening not to be missed. Even if you are not a die hard cricket fan, this is an event you have to come to because it…
Read moreThe next Literature Live! Evening explores many new avenues. To start with, the venue is the glittering Royal Opera House, where we collaborate with Avid Learning to release Chandrahas Choudhury's Clouds, a quintessentially Bombay novel…
Read moreThe year`s second Literature Live! Evening promises to be as interesting as the first : We are launching legendary English Cricket Captain Mike Brearley`s new book On Form. Those who know their cricket will remember that Brearley motivated the…
Read moreIf anyone deserves to be called Ustad, it`s surely Zakir Hussain, the musician who has raised the tabla to the rarefied status of a solo instrument. Come and listen to him -- not perform, but speak…
Read moreOn December 22 at 5.30 PM, Literature Live! Evenings will move for the first time to the Mumbai Press Club. This is on Mahapalika Marg, just before VT Station. The author will, sadly, not be…
Read moreOn December 20 at 6.30 PM at NCPA`s Little Theatre, we celebrate naturalist-writer-photographer Sanjoy Monga`s strikingly handsome Flow: India Through Water. Its theme is expressed in this simple, yet profound line -- 'water is…
Read moreSomeone once asked Sudha, "How is it that you come across so many interesting stories?" She replied, "So does everyone. But I listen, and I write." We are releasing her latest book, Three Thousand Stitches, at…
Read moreLiterature Live and Tata Trusts in association with NCPA Mumbai invite you to a talk by Rahul Mehrotra on "The City in Books : Collaborations, Research & Advocacy". Followed by a conversation with Anil Dharker. Seating on a…
Read moreThe next Literature Live! Evening features Tata Son`s Brand Custodian, Harish Bhat, whose book is called The Curious Marketer. Now 'curious' could mean either 'eager to know or learn', or it could mean 'strange,…
Read moreThe next Literature Live! Evening promises to be a wonderful one for lovers of literature and the novel. It features Amitava Kumar, the Helen D Lockwood Professor of English at Vassar College,which as you know,…
Read moreThe next Literature Live! Evening features a very special book, historian Ramchandra Guha`s seminal book, India After Gandhi, now being reissued in a special tenth anniversary edition. Its subtitle, 'The History of the World`s Largest…
Read moreAs you know, this is the centenary year of Indira Gandhi`s birth, so we can expect quite a few books on India`s former Prime Minister. One of the first to come out is TV anchor…
Read moreThe next Literature Live! Evening brings you the author of a very topical book, This Is Not America, whose splendid cover, showing the Statue of Liberty behind bars, says it all (See card attached). The author, Alan Friedman, is a…
Read moreThe next Literature Live! Evening is an event with a difference: it introduces a new author and a new venue. The writer is Prayaag Akbar, who has been an editor with Scroll and Sunday Guardian,…
Read moreThe next Literature Live! Evening promises to be a provocative one. Crooked Minds by Kiran Karnik may suggest that the book is about our usual national malaise, but the book's sub-title - Creating an Innovative Society - tells us that the…
Read moreThe next Literature Live! Evening is on the extremely topical subject of Demonetisation. C. Rammanohar Reddy is just the right man to write a book on this, having been Editor of the authoritative magazine Economic…
Read more24th February 2017 | 18:30 | G5A EVENT GALLERY [gallery size="medium" ids="2957,2958,2959,2960,2961,2963,2964,2965"]
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