Known Turf

One can’t help it. One feels good about an Indian (well, okay Indian origin) girl growing up to do big things. Nikki – probably a pet nam...

The way to a man's heart, they say, is through the stomach. The way to keeping a nation's heart healthy is also sort of through the...

When I was little, I remember reading a story, or perhaps a play, where an Irish family is considering migrating to a new land, America. Mo...

I've enjoyed reading and reviewing two books this past month: Tabish Khair's "Night of Happiness" and Intizar Husain'...

There have been times when I've been asked what city I'd like to live in for the rest of my life. What sort of neighbourhoo...

One of my enduring memories from the first time I visited Melbourne is walking around looking for lunch and spotting a compact row of bri...

This poem had appeared in The Narrow Road zine. What more does a girl want? ·          notebooks. new, with hard covers so the page...

The naming of streets is a tricky business. In the old days, streets got their names off occupations. There could be named after a Baker, a...

At the turn of the millenium, the phrase “information superhighway” was tossed around a lot. I had no idea what it meant, even though my ...

Two days after Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hung, another glorious martyr gave his life for India. Most of us have forgotten him a...

There's a conversation I often play back in my head. I keep wishing I could back in time and argue properly. I had gone to an ar...

I have a favourite poem. Not necessarily a favourite poet, but a single short poem that demands that I hold on to it, remember it, like a t...

I'd been told the village I was headed to would be twenty-five or thirty kilometers from the kasbah where my family home was. I cou...

A few days ago, I had decided to visit my ancestral home in eastern Uttar Pradesh. As the taxi neared our destination, I was re-introduced ...

Today is Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's death anniversary. I knew very little about him, except that he was one of the tallest leaders of In...

If there is one trait of our citizenry that betrays itself visibly on city roads, it is our tendency to try and bend the rules just a ...

The street is an eternal shapeshifter. It transforms quickly, urgently, and then collapses back into its grey, rough stillness at ni...

I have just finished reading a biography of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan by Rajmohan Gandhi. I started by wanting to share some snippets from th...

Journalists quoting chauffeurs, cab or auto-rickshaw drivers has become a bit of a cliche. After the last election, there was a f...

Here's a twist on the Ship of Theseus paradox. The original paradox is this: if a ship has been restored or fixed after having all its ...