Nimesh Ved
Bishwanath Ghosh's Aimless in Banaras unravels city's grim realities, but through hackneyed clichés
In Bishwanath Ghosh's Aimless in Banaras: Wanderings in India's Holiest City, the lesser-talked about darker aspects of the town comes to the fore, albeit at the cost of poorly-researched, error-ridden stories, and tired old clichés.
Animalia Indica: Sumana Roy curates stories that uphold bygone animal-human bond, dazzle with illustrations
Animalia Indica: The Finest Animal Stories in Indian Literature, edited by Sumana Roy, is a collection of 21 stories from different parts of the subcontinent, "written in the last one hundred years or so". Most of these stories focus on human-animal interactions, though there are a few devoted solely to the animal world as well.
At Varanasi's Dhrupad Mela, a celebration of classical music unlike any other in India
It does not have the tag of "the biggest" or "the music festival in town" because the town is only Varanasi. The ‘Dhrupad Mela’, however, is among the most joyous celebrations of Dhrupad.
A new book on the Great Himalayan National Park offers compelling insights into the quest to save the region
Sanjeeva Pandey and Anthony J Gaston's book underscores the underlying theme at the Great Himalayan National Park — that of placing people at the centre of conservation
In The Twice-Born, Aatish Taseer goes beyond Ganga, Varanasi to explore India's socio-political landscape
Aatish Taseer explores the questions a young democracy located within an ancient civilisation faces, but his attempt is weakened by his unwilling to get out of his comfort zone
Ramnagar ki Ramleela: How Ramcharitmanas is bought to life at one of the oldest 'melas' in Varanasi
Ramleela at Ramnagar, Varanasi, which goes on for about a month, even today takes help of neither the tube lights and bulbs nor audio systems.
The Rise and Fall of the Emerald Tigers: Raghu Chundawat's book raises valid concerns, but disappoints
The Rise and Fall of the Emerald Tigers: Ten Years of Research in Panna National Park, by Raghu Chundawat is the story of a passionate wildlife scientist and one of the better-known tiger reserves in the country.
Steed of the Jungle God: Raza Tehsin presents exciting tales from south Rajasthan's wilderness
In his book, Raza Tehsin brings forth stories from the forest which make the reader rethink their beliefs about the wild and remove the fear of the unfamiliar
As Varanasi's ghats come alive with music, the city could stake its claim to being India's cultural capital
Music events at Varanasi's Ghats have much to offer to attendees — performances by veterans, views of the Ganga and beautiful venues
Varanasi's Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh celebrates the city, and the Indian classical music tradition
'Banarasi' is the term which best describes the Sankat Mochan Music Festival — like the town, it is difficult to comprehend, thrives on chaos and defies logic.
Plastic is there to stay, onus is on us to change our lifestytes and protect the environment
Irrespective of location or size of our city or town or how we fare on other life indicators we will need to decrease our use of plastic.
By insisting on using these Latin or scientific names, are we missing the forest for the trees?
What is the point of using Latin names? Why use terms which few comprehend and seldom use in any case?
Is environment education in India at odds with its development agenda?
Environment Education, in its current form, does not appear to be helping and needs to reinvent itself and respond to the changing times.