The Workers Library: ‘Souls in the Kalyug:’

An Unending Struggle for Justice: A Rare Insight into the Everyday Lives of Migrant Workers in India

While the overall picture is depressing, Ramaswami also describes hopeful strands within the social fabric of workers’ lives such as the mutual support and 'bhaichara' (fellowship) between men across ethnic, religious and caste boundaries that become more fluid within the city. The inter-religious and inter-caste ties forged between workers can be seen as small glimmers of hope in the context of the rising tide of Hindutva politics over the past decades. 

Suman Kalyanpur: A Silken Echo Falls Silent

Today, as we bid farewell to the Dhaka-born singer once fondly called the “Dhake ki malmal,” one is reminded that the softest fabrics often endure the longest. Her voice was just that. Fine, delicate, yet enduring beyond time. And now, as that voice falls silent, it leaves behind not an emptiness, but an echo. An echo that will continue to drift through radio waves, old recordings and the private corners of memory. 

Aurat March is About Women's Identity: Movement for Gender Justice in Pakistan and Across the Region

Two girls stood silently holding a placard that read: ‘Forcing your daughter to get married is forcing her to get raped.’ The message speaks to a reality across the South Asian region where the priority for most families is to get their daughters married. On a sheet where attendees were penning messages to their mothers -- words they could not say aloud -- an anonymous note read: “Would you rather see me married or alive?”

Homage to an Iconic Ray Film Whose Popularity Spans Generations and Cultures

The result was a phenomenal script with a stellar cast and a music which not only took the storyline ahead but also paused to reflect upon each moment. Satyajit’s rendition of the story has several of his beliefs reflected, including his anti-war stance, his love for performative arts, including various forms of classical dance, his love for history and regional history, amidst others, his stance against caste and class discrimination and oppression of the poor and the tyranny and subjugation of the ruling class

More on Culture and Society

Transgender dancer declared threat to peace in Pakistan, expelled from district

Helen of Troy meet Chahat from Kohat. In a development that appears straight out of a tragicomedy, a member of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has ordered the expulsion of the transgender dancer from the district for being a ‘threat to law and order’

Pakistani actor Bilal Abbas Kha wants to be directed by Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj

Pakistani actor Bilal Abbas Khan feels Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has an amazing understanding of cinema, and hopes to work with the filmmaker

Story of Kashmir's little-known 1947 hero and a lesser-known poet

Among all Kashmiris, the historic failure of Pakistan's Operation Gulmarg -- an invasion through the tribal raiders from NWFP to occupy Maharaj Hari Singhs Jammu and Kashmir in October-November 1947 -- is attributed to the National Conference (NC) activist Maqbool Sherwani of Baramulla

Demolition of 70-year-old cinema hall in Kabul draws protests

The Kabul Municipality started the demolition of a 70-year-old Park Cinema Hall in the downtown area of Kabul, Tolonews reported. The decision regarding the demolition was taken last week in a meeting of first Vice President Amrullah Saleh with security officials

People in Tamil Nadu village celebrate Kamala Harris victory with sweets and firecrackers

As the news of Kamala Harris' election as the new US vice president poured in, people of Thulasendrapuram village in Tamil Nadu in southern India celebrated the occasion by bursting firecrackers and distributing celebratory sweets

Boys travel 70 km to play football in Meghalaya

"The thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football" -- this memorable quote by English writer Terry Pratchett encapsulates the passion that can be evoked by the sport

With virtual reality video-immersive experience, Mahatma Gandhi goes digital

Union Ministers Harsh Vardhan and Prahlad Singh Patel on Friday inaugurated a 360-degree video-immersive experience of digital exhibits on Mahatma Gandhi installed at Gandhi Darshan in Delhi's Rajghat

Meet Seema Iqbal, who broke glass ceiling in male-dominated 'shayari' circuit

In the male-dominated shayari circuit of India, Seema Iqbal has broken the glass ceiling, using the Urdu language and its vast nuances that made people take note of her poetic creativity

Horses, rhinos evolved from strange hoofed animal in India: US study

Hoofed animals like horses and rhinos evolved from a strange sheep-sized animal that looked like a cross between a pig and a dog and roamed in India almost 55 million years ago., researchers have claimed

Kids' ideas to fight Covid turned into prototypes

A long-distance hugging device, a door handle that sanitises itself and a smartwatch that beeps when someone comes too close to you

US returns stolen antiquities worth millions to Pakistan

The United States has returned 45 stolen pieces of antiquities worth approximately $250,000 dating back to the Gandhara period to Pakistan

Education has given tolerance, patience to Indian Muslims: Filmmaker Kamaludeen

Popular award-winning Malayalam film director Kamaludeen, popularly known as Kamal, feels education has uplifted the Muslim community, which has largely led to the tolerance and patience of the community even in the extremely adverse conditions in which they are moving ahead

Bangladeshi author Shaheen Akhtar wins Asian Literary Award

Bangladeshi author Shaheen Akhtar has been awarded the 3rd Asian Literary Award for her novel Talaash (Mowla Brothers, 2009), which depicts the lasting suffering of Birangona women—survivors of sexual violence during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war

Syed Abid Hussain helps stranded Indians return home

More than 100 people stranded overseas have returned to their homeland thanks to the efforts of Syed Abid Hussain, 36, popularly known as Bajrangi Bhaijaan in real life after the Salman Khan-starring blockbuster

Pakistan receives 45 stolen relics from the US

A relic showing Gautama Buddha meditating under the tree of awakening was among the 45 antiquities that the Manhattan District Attor­ney’s office IN New York returned to the people of Pakistan this week