Bookswelike

Death in Manipur: The collateral damage that was Rabina Devi

Few remember Rabina Devi, shot dead on the streets of Imphal in 2009. Was she just at the wrong place at the wrong time? A journalist retraces the steps of the woman who went to the market and came back dead.

How Patels took over motels

Decades after the arrival of the first Indian motel keepers in the US — almost all with roots in Gujarat and most with the surname Patel — Gujaratis now own 60 percent of budget properties.

Whatever I do, my mother did first: Barkha Dutt

Barkha Dutt was called the "first woman war correspondent" after Kargil. But she says her mother, Prabha Dutt deserves that honour as well/

Aung San Suu Kyi: Lessons from another landslide victory

All eyes are on Aung San Suu Kyi in the historic elections that just happened in Myanmar. But it's tricky when a party is so dependent on one leader. That's a lesson to remember from the 1990 elections.

Mamata Banerjee: A woman among men

Mamata Banerjee is one of that rare breed in India - a self-made woman politician. Yet has being a woman among men made her any kind of feminist? Monobina Gupta investigates how Didi deals with gender.

Rajiv Gandhi, the wrestler baba and Ram Lalla of Ayodhya

Two decades after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, meet a man whose connection to that history is both direct and controversial. But few know of Baba Dharamdas' other link - to the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

A foxtrot called Taj Mahal

Jazz in the early 20th century was not just about New Orleans or Chicago or Paris. Bombay knew how to get jazzy as well. Naresh Fernandes tells the story of one of the earliest jazzy records made in India - the Taj Mahal Foxtrot.

Death in Mumbai: How Ekta Kapoor makes television that sizzles

The Maria Susairaj love triangle had all the ingredients of a lurid made-for-TV movie. And Ekta Kapoor wanted to make it. But it's really a story about the fatal attraction of television for young people like Susairaj.

Talking dirty: Lust, longing and chee chee in Sri Lanka

Computer porn in the office. Dirty talk with a teenaged girl on the phone. A man in his thirties wonders why all of that is more exciting than the real thing. An excerpt from the first collection of Sri Lankan erotic stories.

Arni's graphic novel brings out Sita's angst, boldness

Author Samhita Arni in a graphic novel Sita's Ramayana, has brought out the bolder colours of the epic character, Sita.