Long Reads News - Page 19

Upon Varanasi's ghats: Magical realism in a city that lives in the past

Varanasi is a strange city; one foot in the past, one in the present. The word ‘future’ feels out of place here, things just have been and continue to be

Life after death: What drives the decision to donate one's body for the benefit of science?

Cremation and burial scarcely ever involve a human choice. By contrast, a person wishing to donate his or her body to a medical college has to make that choice in their lifetime.

Monsoon Music: From Himachal Pradesh, songs about sowing and separation

Each of Himachal Pradesh’s 12 districts has its own tradition of folk songs about the rains, defined by the topography.

Dalit shahirs of Maharashtra: B Kashinand's verses of optimism

Dalit shahir B Kashinand was optimistic, determined and a dreamer of the Prabuddha Bharath (Enlightened Bharath)

Palestine in photos: Clashes, showdowns — and what they really signify

“Clashes” are often reported between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli military in the West Bank. What may not be immediately clear is the nature of many of these clashes.

Palestine in Photos: Demolished homes, disrupted lives

These photographs present the study in contrasts that is the fate of Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The Freedom of the Press

First published in 1972, George Orwell's proposed preface to Animal Farm makes a compelling — and timeless — argument for upholding the freedom of the press

A unique viewfinder: Photojournalist Kulwant Roy's legacy was nearly lost, then found

Kulwant Roy's photographs offer an intimate portrait of the Indian freedom struggle and feature national heroes like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel among others.

As DMK chief Karunanidhi's life slipped away, his supporters held on to hope and a prayer

DMK chief M Karunanidhi, one of the foremost Dravidian politicians in modern times, died in Chennai on Tuesday, 7 August 2018, aged 94

Palestine in photos: A chronicle of lives under siege

Palestinian lives — those of children and adults alike — are marked in every aspect by the Israeli occupation. Here are a few instances of its effect on their daily lives

The writing's on the (Berlin) Wall

Millions of tourists come to see the famous Berlin Wall graffiti; many of them playfully interact with the art on the wall — a stark contrast to what was once a terrifying symbol of the East versus West Germany divide

Char Dham Road Project: Stairway to heaven or highway to hell?

Unmindful work on the Char Dham Highway Development Project, unregulated tourism and related construction boom threaten a severely stressed geography in Uttarakhand

Palestine in photos: Fences, walls, segregation — West Bank's architecture of oppression

Israel has erected vast, sophisticated and expensive architecture in the West Bank to control, micro-manage and frustrate Palestinian lives

The Cauvery in the Anthropocene

The question of what a river means to its people, is also equally about asking the question of how people frame themselves as part of rivers and their extended physical environments

Dalit shahirs of Maharashtra: Prahlad Shinde's dual approaches to music

Prahlad Shinde sang many of the Ambedkarite movement’s songs. But he also sang ‘devotional’ and ‘folk’ songs which brought him widespread popularity.

Adventures in clay: How the ghatam got a second chance to survive

The ghatam's revival is the story of an extraordinary global campaign to rescue a musical instrument

Palestine in photos: Nablus to Ramallah, Jerusalem & Jericho, a look at urban life

Bustling cities, crawling peak hour traffic, street-side vendors and measured chaos evoke a distinct sense of familiarity for an Indian traveller in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank of Palestine

Palestine in photos: Tracing the West Bank's history, natural diversity

Palestine's West Bank — merely 50 percent larger than Goa or three-and-half times the size of Greater London — is packed with immense historical and geographical diversity

Palestine in photos: Sampling the region's culture and cuisine

Food, dance, theatre, art — Palestine has much to offer culture aficionados. Here's a look, in pictures.

Palestine in photos: A look at education, universities and campus life in the region

There are several large universities in the West Bank, Palestine, with over 10,000 students and the largest among them — An-Najah university — has over 20,000!

Building resilience: Responding to cyber-bullying in Sri Lanka

Targeted online, often through vicious commentary on their appearance, five Sri Lankans talk about how they fought back | #Longreads

The real cost of uranium mining: The case of Tummalapalle

Unheard of ailments, dying livestock, failed crops — villagers who live close to the Tummalapalle uranium mine in Andhra Pradesh believe the project is the cause of their myriad troubles

Dalit shahirs of Maharashtra: Prakash Patankar's songs against caste

“Song is not a means of livelihood for me [sic]. It is a weapon to bring awareness in society,” Prakash Patankar said

The art of the bahurupi: Bengal's folk cosplayers are vestiges of a fading past

The bahurupis are folk cosplayers of Bengal who portray several hundred characters, most of them mythological, but some with social relevance

Venkatapathy Raju: 'Muscles from Brussels' winds back the clock

As Venkatapathy Raju turns 49, Firstpost winds back the clock with 'Muscles' who seems to be finally living up to his pseudo name

Dalit shahirs of Maharashtra: Nagorao Patankar's quest to reclaim history

The lyrics of a song that Nagorao Patankar performed in 1935 before BR Ambedkar went: "Dalito Ki Tawarikh/ Mulk Hindostan Se Pucho (The history of Dalits/ Ask the country called Hindostan)"

LeBron James, the Cavalier who ruled Cleveland

Cleveland is a city with three patron saints: Superman, born from the imagination of two college kids, was invented here while the Nazi-defying Olympic gold medallist Jesse Owens called this city a home for a large part of his life. The city's third patron saint is basketball star LeBron James, the man who delivered the city its first sporting success after a 52-year drought in 2016.

Dalit shahirs of Maharashtra: Anna Bhau Sathe's powerful songs

Anna Bhau Sathe voiced the pain of an entire generation of untouchable workers, who migrated from the villages to cities in search of a life of dignity

Dalit shahirs of Maharashtra: Wamandada Kardak's anti-caste metaphors

Wamandada Kardak's work as a Dalit shahir was a breakthrough in terms of defining ‘culture’ in a Hindu Brahminical society

Dalit shahirs of Maharashtra: The unsung genius of Uttam Mule

Though his songs were popular and even sung by established singers, Uttam Mule was never given due credit