South Asian Literature

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Betwixt and between: Tales from a Nepali-Indian girlhood

Ravindra's prose is brisk, smooth, and detailed, with numerous stories from traditional Nepali and Hindu folklore chipped in, adding layers as the story unfolds.

INTERVIEW / ‘Human translation will continue, despite machines’: An interview with V. Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy shares insights on his upcoming projects and, among other things, thoughts on whether AI could ever be a serious translator

ESSAY / On motherhood and Mahasweta Devi’s ‘Breast-Giver’

I couldn’t help but think of the cultural significance of the word “ma” in our own society today; it is lead-heavy with meaning and so frequently invoked—from commonplace addresses of tender respect for women to motherly depictions of the landscape of Bengal in artworks, songs, and films

ESSAY / Feluda, the idea of ‘Bangali Bhadralok’, and the gendered silence in detective fiction

These decisions hint at an implicit belief that certain genres or readerships require the exclusion of certain genders, whether due to artistic limitations, market considerations, or adherence to established genre conventions.

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Through folklore and fantasy: An ode to Bangla mythological characters

The book invites you to revel in the world of legends, to dream as you once did as a child.

16 Days of Activism / On invisibilised violence

In classic Bengali fiction, the kitchen is a central site for conflict and community bonding.

ESSAY / Bangladesh’s writers on Wikipedia: Abbasuddin Ahmed and Humayun Kabir

If such writers lived in, and contributed to the literary legacy of, other countries, I will offer a compromise and propose a hyphenated identity.

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Otherness and invisible identities

'The Hippo Girl and Other Stories' holds up a mirror to a society that judges and ridicules those that do not adhere to its shortsighted vision of a homogenised culture.

INTERVIEW / Speaking with Arunava Sinha about Sanya Rushdi’s ‘Hospital’: A translator extraordinaire

"...it is our responsibility to contribute to ways in which more translators can work well, be compensated fairly and find the work worthwhile enough to continue doing it"

May 22, 2025
May 22, 2025

‘Human translation will continue, despite machines’: An interview with V. Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy shares insights on his upcoming projects and, among other things, thoughts on whether AI could ever be a serious translator

May 22, 2025
May 22, 2025

Betwixt and between: Tales from a Nepali-Indian girlhood

Ravindra's prose is brisk, smooth, and detailed, with numerous stories from traditional Nepali and Hindu folklore chipped in, adding layers as the story unfolds.

May 11, 2025
May 11, 2025

On motherhood and Mahasweta Devi’s ‘Breast-Giver’

I couldn’t help but think of the cultural significance of the word “ma” in our own society today; it is lead-heavy with meaning and so frequently invoked—from commonplace addresses of tender respect for women to motherly depictions of the landscape of Bengal in artworks, songs, and films

May 9, 2025
May 9, 2025

Feluda, the idea of ‘Bangali Bhadralok’, and the gendered silence in detective fiction

These decisions hint at an implicit belief that certain genres or readerships require the exclusion of certain genders, whether due to artistic limitations, market considerations, or adherence to established genre conventions.

January 2, 2025
January 2, 2025

Through folklore and fantasy: An ode to Bangla mythological characters

The book invites you to revel in the world of legends, to dream as you once did as a child.

December 7, 2024
December 7, 2024

On invisibilised violence

In classic Bengali fiction, the kitchen is a central site for conflict and community bonding.

October 3, 2024
October 3, 2024

Bangladesh’s writers on Wikipedia: Abbasuddin Ahmed and Humayun Kabir

If such writers lived in, and contributed to the literary legacy of, other countries, I will offer a compromise and propose a hyphenated identity.

July 25, 2024
July 25, 2024

Otherness and invisible identities

'The Hippo Girl and Other Stories' holds up a mirror to a society that judges and ridicules those that do not adhere to its shortsighted vision of a homogenised culture.

June 6, 2024
June 6, 2024

Speaking with Arunava Sinha about Sanya Rushdi’s ‘Hospital’: A translator extraordinaire

"...it is our responsibility to contribute to ways in which more translators can work well, be compensated fairly and find the work worthwhile enough to continue doing it"

May 29, 2024
May 29, 2024

Unseen chains of consequences

When a few boys arrive at the couple’s flat to seek out their college-going daughter, Rekha, the parents are thrown into a whirlwind of adventure.