The debate on values surrounding heritage conservation today has a come a long way from the romanticism of John Ruskin in the late 19th century Britain, who was poetic and utopian in his description of values, “there was yet in the old some life, some mysterious suggestion of what it had been and of what […]
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Hiraman’s first vivid memory was of a grinning Jaglu lift his mother from behind and swing her around, her excited laughter circling, bouncing off the shiny-wavy Aluminium walls. He had never seen her happier than those days, when she would wake up in the mornings lazily doing her hair, eyes lost, smiling before shaking Jaglu […]
Dr. Sengupta was a transformed man as soon as he stepped behind the wheels of his battle-scarred Honda City, unrecognizable from the soft-spoken, urbane doctor examining an unending stream of patients at his CR Park clinic in the evening. Many of his regular patients were not well off; he treated them without charging any fees. […]
From the hammock, the sky was an oscillating, blue-green leaf-filigree as the morning rays gently warmed the tree trunks and rested on scattered patches of grass. A Magpie dapper in its black and white plumage hopped about in search of juicy insects that were out after an unusual morning rain. A nimble Rose Finch sidled […]
It’s not a type of banana, neither a nutritious root found in the jungles of India that sustained Ram, Sita and Lakshman during their long years in exile. It is a variety of local mango that floods the vegetable Mandis in Varanasi and neighbouring areas of Eastern UP soon after the first summer rains. Every […]
Father, sitting on the front seat besides the driver, a small hard-bound worn-out Ramayan in his lap: ‘Dekho beta Lomrhi’. Son: ‘Nomri? nomri… khanpal? Khanpal?’; missing the elusive animal with the bushy tail and legendary cunning, as the old Landmaster rumbled through the plains of Northern Bihar. Father, amused, solicitous, reassuring: ‘Kanu Ram nahin dekh […]
Supratik, the Chief of Police and Internal Security at Ujjain, walked hurriedly up to the riverside, just as the body was being fished out. The officer supervising the operation turned around and saluted his commander smartly. Supratik nodded, his mind preoccupied, struggling to make sense of the fast-paced happenings since yesterday evening. The pale body […]
The relentless, three-month-long dry summer had sucked out the last molecule of moisture from the air leaving the land and its people parched. The fumes-laden air shimmered above the city’s melted asphalt distorting vehicles and buildings and the noisy, chaotic streets would turn silent, utterly devoid of pedestrians by noon. Then one scorching afternoon in […]
Banarasi Sarees are made of finely woven silk (Resham) and decorated with intricate designs using gold and silver brocade (Zari). The designs are characterized by intertwining floral patterns (Kalga and Bel) and a string of leaves called Jhallar along the border. Other features include – compact weaving, figures with small details, a metallic visuality, intricate Pallus, Jaal […]
The news that India has slipped on the Global Hunger Index ranking from 97 to 102, despite the efforts put in by the government and the NGOs to tackle the problem of malnutrition has come as a shock. A host of welfare schemes run by the government including the provision of: subsidized food grains to […]
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