In Brazil, world's largest tree-borne fruit is either danger or delight: Journey of the jackfruit in southern hemisphere
Jackfruit is abundant during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer, but many Brazilians are loath to eat it. Historically, it has been consumed more by the poor or enslaved; in barbecue-mad Brazil, the idea of fruit substituting for meat is viewed with suspicion.
Medical teams in Turkey travel to remote mountain villages as part of vaccination drive against coronavirus
After traveling snow and ice covered roads, medical workers arrived in the small settlement of 350 people some 140 miles (230 kilometres) from the provincial capital, to vaccinate older villagers.
In Bangladesh, a fishing community lives in a boat village, dissociated from mainland, government assistance
The locals consider them to be lower caste people. The land dwellers are the main customers of these fishers, as they do business with the ‘Babaija’. It is a relation of monetary transactions, not one of kinship.
Central to disaster relief efforts in Pakistan's mountain villages, women scale heights with rescue teams
Dedicated teams of women volunteers are an important part of working with communities in effective ways during disaster relief operations.
In photos: The story of Nepal's first, and now nearly forgotten, hydropower project
This was only 30 years after the installation of the world’s first hydropower plant on Fox river of Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1882, and a year before China built its first hydropower plant in 1912 in Yunnan province.
Encountering architectural riches while travelling through Gandhara, the land of forgotten Buddhist relics
A peep into the heritage sites and museums of Pakistan and Afghanistan gives an idea of the beauty of Gandhara’s architectural wealth.
Markhor struggles to survive in Kashmir as its Hirapora habitat is overgrazed, fragmented by roads and power lines
Markhor (Capra falconeri) – the largest wild goat in the world – was in the near-threatened category on the IUCN red list when the most recent assessment for the species was made in 2014. The mountain goat’s habitat ranges over the north-western parts of the Hindu Kush Himalayas, in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Debate around IIM-A dorms' demolition underscores irony of emphasising heritage while ignoring history
If the dormitory blocks at IIM-A are conserved, that would be beautiful. But when will we restore the professional understanding of our roles and responsibilities as architects in shaping the professional and public realm – its intellectual, political, and aesthetic (philosophical) dimensions and discourses?
A Himalayan community's efforts to contain COVID-19 attest to power of outreach, and need for better healthcare
Residents, medical workers and a youth group mitigated a dangerous rise in COVID-19 recently in the district of Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, but the pandemic exposed a desperate need for better healthcare in this remote part of India.
Still Life: Anoushka Khan's debut graphic novel creates a world both unsettling and extraordinary
Part road trip, part existential thriller, Still Life seeks new ways to look at love, isolation, memory and loss, asking what connects us to each other and to the natural world, and how we are governed by impulses we barely understand.
Pause, rewind, play: An Australian Summer that will never be forgotten by this avowed cricket fan
Inexperience can sometimes be a virtue.
Jarjar Ghar: Documentary on Mumbai's generational tenants underscores city's ethos, and its glaring housing crunch
Shot entirely during the ongoing pandemic, the six-minute documentary captures vignettes of a 200-year-old building on Marine Lines' Sonapur Street, crumbling on the outside but bustling within.
.jpg?impolicy=website&width=640&height=362 "How writer-director Mohit Priyadarshi made Kosa, a searing look at human rights violations in Chhattisgarh")
How writer-director Mohit Priyadarshi made Kosa, a searing look at human rights violations in Chhattisgarh
The film made its Indian premiere at the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival in January 2021, after debuting internationally at UK's Raindance Festival in October last year.
A COVID Christmas in Johannesburg: An unexpected 'celebration' in unprecedented times
An essay about family, festivals, being a single migrant mother — and the pandemic we're living through.
In Bengal's Rasui village, 75-year-old Khudiram Hajra keeps the dying tradition of 'bhorai' kirtan alive
In Vaishnavism, the sun is believed to be a manifestation of Krishna, and in the Bengali month of Kartik, the kirtan verses sung at dawn by kirtaniyas is known as 'bhorai', which is derived from term 'bhor', meaning dawn.
What do we lose when we lose a grain of rice? | Story of Goa's Korgut rice, grown in its Khazans, is story of the state
Korgut — a salinity-resistant rice variety specific to the reclaimed wetlands known as Khazans — embodies vital aspects of Goan history, ecology and culture
In Mumbai Monochrome, photography and haiku conjoin to explore the unfamiliar in the mundane
Through Mumbai Monochrome, a collection of photographs that capture the cityscape in all its moods, Kelkar places dead centre the people who have made this much talked about city an energetic, complex and multicultural metropolis simply by way of their quotidian lives and occupations.
100 years of Sahir Ludhianvi: An essential, timeless poetic voice
“What is the secret behind Sahir Ludhianvi’s everlasting appeal?” Surinder Deol asks in an essay for Firstpost, examining the poet-lyricist’s life and legacy in the year of his 100th birth anniversary.
An Oral History of the COVID-19 Crisis: Indians narrate their lived experiences of a lockdown and pandemic
The Oral History Project aims to be an ongoing compendium of individual experiences of the pandemic, with a focus on one significant day in our respondents’ lives during this time.
How gaming made 2020 a tiny bit more tolerable: A short story
This January, as I pondered the new direction my gaming was taking, what I hadn’t factored in was 2020, what an absolute stinker it was going to be, and how gaming would make the year (ever-so-slightly) more tolerable.