“Tu nahin jaanta?” You didn’t know? Sushil asked when we had checked into a tenement in the Air Force Station in Tezpur, Assam. Sushil Sharma was then with The Dainik Hindustan (Hindi) […]
The Elephant in the Roam
Sujan Dutta
Journalist
Take A Diagonal Ride
Do you know what a ladicycle is? It is pretty much like a bicyle as we know now. There was a time when women like my Ma couldn’t ride a bicycle that […]
Bullets in a Steamship, Shackles in a Plane
Cuckoo News goes to Budge Budge to track a story from 1914. The Komagata Maru was a Japanese ship which sailed to Canada but was denied entry. The passengers on board were […]
The Hidden Camera and the Khyber Pass
I think it was this one. It definitely looks like the camera brought from the Soviet Union for me in the mid-1970s by my Ma. She had a stint as a teacher […]
It takes decades to dive deep into the solitude of a hundred years
I want to be Colonel Aureliano Buendia all over again. I want to smell Macondo all over again. I also want to be Ursula and I want to be Arcadio. In the […]
The Country on the Other Side of the River
In the tree-lined road to the studios of the Film Institute of India a chariot drew up. Upon it the woman who was cast in white was looking beautiful. In that moment […]
The Grass Is Greener, The Jackfruit Is Fatter
The jackfruit tree was in the middle of a concrete and sand platform. It was laden with the green and golden fruit that bowed its branches to kiss the ground. The ampleness […]
Goja Moja
A magical sweet is the Goja It has a peculiar moja Often it’s crumbed, Its layers gummed, It may be tyaara, byaka or shoja. Last week in Birbhum’s Siuri, To which I […]
Mayo Just Doesn’t Cut the Mustard
[Editor’s Note: Poila Boishakh, the Bengali new year, is upon us. Like every new year, it’s really as much about looking back with nostalgia at the old year(s) as it is about […]
Goodbye, Friend. Do you still accuse?
My friend and former colleague Jarnail Singh died of Covid this morning in a hospital in Delhi. He was younger than me. Jarnail was a journalist on the defence beat before he threw […]
“Sirji, you look familiar.”
Delhi, January 27: In a border that cuts through the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and the Indian capital of Delhi, a policeman guided my car through iron and concrete barricades. […]
50 Years of Togetherness
This year, India and Bangladesh celebrate 50 years of the establishment of their diplomatic ties and Bangladesh commemorates 50 years of its liberation. For the first time, the Bangladesh Armed Forces contingent […]
Farmers’ Protest Update
January 23, 2021. Ghazipur border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, protesting farmers commemorated the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as their struggle continues. Much more than just a protest, […]
Winter-Harvest Festival of Lohri Underway, Even As Farm-Bill Protest Rages On
Indian farmers have been protesting a set of new agriculture laws proposed by the government. The three bills, collectively known as “Indian agriculture acts of 2020” have been criticized as favoring corporate […]
The Jokers Go Home…The Audience Longs To Also
In a Last Act, the pretty Sheetal blew a flying kiss inside a stadium. The stadium in the Yamuna Sports Complex in East Delhi has been converted into a shelter for migrant […]
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