Pohela Boishakh: A brief history of the Bengali calendar
A brief history of the Bengali Calendar and why India and Bangladesh celebrate the Bengali New Year on different days.Continue Reading →
On International Mother Language Day, a note by a Sylheti from Shillong
At a time when an anglicised creole is the new lingua franca and I am identified and counted as a…
A rare sight: Seeing the Himalayas from Shillong
Shillongites were basking in the sights of the snow-capped Himalayan peaks 250 kilometres away.
Poha: The momo for the mornings
I begin writing this perched on the top berth in a sleeper coach of a train that has a long halt at Ujjain Railway Station. Ujjain is an ancient town…Continue Reading →
1962: Newspaper front page from 50 years ago when China attacked India
It’s been 50 years since the ‘Himalayan Blunder’ of 1962 when the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) unexpectedly rampaged into Indian…
Vintage photographs of Shillong from 1948 (also Vallabhbhai Patel calling people of Assam lazy)
64 years later, Shillong is virtually unrecognisable. I could only recognise the Governor House on Bivar Road, then known as…
Voltas All Weather AC (Murthy) ad gives Cherrapunjee a bad name
In a city like Delhi, your air conditioners should be all weather but not if you happen to be transferred to Cherrapunjee in Meghalaya. In fact the Voltas All Weather…Continue Reading →
Rongali Bihu unofficial Google doodle
For some it is the beginning of the new year, for others it marks the end of the harvest season.…
Bhupen Hazarika (1926-2011). North-East India loses a star
The legendary Bhupen Hazarika died of multiple organ failure in a Bombay hospital today. He was one of the few…
10 years since that summer of 2001: What 'Dil Chahta Hai' meant to me
(Dil Chahta Hai was released on August 10, 2001. This post was first published in 2011) Summer of 2001. Bhopal. Bharat Talkies. Dil Chahta Hai. A decade later the experience…Continue Reading →
When the Indian Air Force bombed Aizawl
In the aftermath of the massacre of 76 security personnel by the Naxals in Chhattisgarh, a debate is on regarding…
Against Terror. In all Forms
It’s November 26. Said to be the day we commemorate what is often called India’s 9/11. The date-month order may…
