Known Turf

In his introduction to The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets(1997), Arvind Krishna Mehrotra wrote: “To edit an anthology...

"T he narrative is strong and sublime in just the parts they should be, not letting the weight of the words take down the scenes you b...

The other day, I went to a movie. As usual, we stood up for the national anthem. For some reason – perhaps because there was no video accom...

Can you think of one thing that is common to all festivals? This element cuts across race, religion, class. This element is at the root of ...

"Tantalisingly subtitled and numbered 1 to 14, yet arranged haphazardly—like random numbers in a slot machine—these stories tell of th...

Last week, I mentioned that a group of us had gone to Carter Road with a pledge to help create safer cities. Some men held up pledges sayin...

Begin at the very source of your need. Begin the way waterfalls begin – with a rush and headlong tumble towards the unknown depths. Crash...

Words are one of the first things we ache for. A baby learns to say ‘Ma’ or ‘Pa’ or ‘Daadi’ because those are the words of first love. Then...

This afternoon, finally, I want to cry. Not because of the gangrape-murder that caused such outrage. Not because such rape-murders are repo...

"Has your approach to writing changed, since you became a published writer?" I've become more aware of the need to edit...

Once, a man in a car followed me in Saket. He asked for directions to PVR, then asked me to come with him, and ended with calling me a bi...

Dear Ladies of the Ruling Coalition, What was that about? The water-cannons and unnecessary beating up of citizens in Delhi… You were...

There have been some interesting developments in the tweaked food department. Maharashtra has admitted that cotton yield is likely to reduc...

So, she is in hospital in critical condition. There are injuries mainly on her face and stomach. The men who attacked her were armed with...

Imagine this situation. You go to work. In the evening, you say goodbye to colleagues. You come home. And you find someone waiting for you....

I hear it’s the wedding season. Which means a lot of people are shopping without dropping. In any case, the new Indian middle class no long...

There are some things we know about modern India — that Mahatma Gandhi, or Bapu as he was fondly called, was the largest wave in the gre...

A friend posted a note online saying how proud he was that India has never attacked another nation. It made me puff up with pride too. Bu...

A poetry film. A bit of an experiment with cityscapes and words. The script was 'found ' in the sense that the story was constructe...

I’m currently reading a book that spans the 1920s-60s. It reveals a lot about some of the men who organized and led the freedom struggle ...