Representational Photo

An agenda for the nation: Streamline business cycle; unleash entrepreneurial enthusiasm

We must also insulate enterprises from pressure and extortion by local power elites, which adversely distorts factory pricing and ultimately adds a burden to the consumer price. This will also enable enterprises to maintain healthy returns within the fixed MRP system, especially for FMCG

Kashmir: A shark-infested 'Heaven on Earth'!

Despite all my patriotic feelings, I do not recommend a visit to Kashmir. It is ill-organized and ill-prepared to receive the rush of tourists. It lacks elementary infrastructure, basic amenities, and essential facilities at present. Worse, the tourists are always at the mercy of the local mafia.

A quest in the evolution and purpose of life

This production of matter, life forms and galaxies will keep on happening till the space is “exhausted”, and then the cycle reverses which will finally lead to time and space coming into equilibrium. This is the eternal Brahmakala cycle where all life is destroyed at its end.

Barefoot in Ridi Vihare: Learnings from a unique a people-to-people experience in the ‘silver caves’ of Sri Lanka

As someone from Karachi, where heritage and culture find little importance and are often forgotten, where the metropolis pushes the seashore backward, the Sri Lankan experience felt surreal. The land of Ridi Vihare held impeccable beauty and gave us much to learn and take back.

More on Medley

As Nepal’s rhino population increases, protecting rhino habitat becomes a challenge

In February 2023, Chitwan National Park hosted the 3rd Asian Rhino Range Countries, which saw the adoption of the Chitwan Declaration for Asian Rhino Conservation, 2023 by delegations from Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal. 

Pop Art South Asia: A unique and irreverent creative collection of region's artists

It is impossible to take in the meticulously and painstakingly curated show, with more than 100 stimulating, multi-media works, spanning more than a century, in a single visit.

What’s Love Got to Do With It? A feel-good South Asian rom-com with a sturdy message

Released in the UK on February 24 and in Pakistan on March 3, the film is a refreshing masterclass on how to adhere to the classic romantic-comedy structure, delivering a delightfully fair representation of multi-heritage families in cosmopolitan London and Lahore.

When the magic of Faiz got overshadowed by the Javed Akhtar controversy

But it was Akhtar’s few brief comments about the Mumbai attacks that spread rapidly on social media, picked up by mainstream media in Pakistan and India. Back home Akhtar had to defend his visit to Pakistan but his hosts. Faiz Festival organisers, have refused to comment on the controversy.

Zia Mohyeddin: Mourning the passing away of a progressive Pakistani poet and theatre artiste

Pakistan’s progressive movement revolved largely around the great poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, whose work Zia Mohyeddin so eloquently recited in his signature style, his distinctive, gravelly voice set him apart from others. 

A legendary Indian songwriter, a daughter married in Pakistan - and a family torn apart

Before moving to Pakistan, Kishwar often accompanied her father to recordings after school hours in Mumbai. After marriage, with relations between the two countries deteriorating, she found herself progressively isolated from her family and the world. 

Salman Rushdie returns, vibrating with literary energy

If there ever were a perfect literary candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, it would be Salman Rushdie this year.

Filial piety and elderly-children relationships: Common narratives in regional folklore and popular culture

Several folktales from across the Indian sub-continent also speak about respect and honour of one’s elderly parents. The concept is also seen in Theravada Buddhism, often referred as 'the doctrine of the elders' (of the senior Buddhist monks). Thus, reverberations of the concept of filial piety are seen in spiritualism and folklore of South, Southeast and East Asia.

‘Serendipity’ and its travelling tale - across Persia, Sri Lanka and India

This story is often said to have encouraged the introduction of the word ‘serendip’ into the English dictionary, marking January 28 to be remembered as the day when the word entered the dictionary. 

Rediscovering Suchitra Sen in Bangladesh: Tracing the portrait of a glamorous actress on an easel of the past

As busy evenings of youngsters flock over to Roopkawthar Kabbo, the narrative of the legend from yesteryears reverberates through each cup served and, for the uninitiated, these cups are the connecting dots of time when an answer comes with the query of “Who is this?”.

The poet who never gave up: Is Tagore relevant today?

And yet, it is perhaps the reminder of these unfulfilled dreams, a never-ending quest, that is most relevant today, as we struggle through challenges that are at once global and personal, intricately and inextricably intertwined.

Music without borders: Dama Dam Mast Qalandar and a qawwali night at Boston

“Between the first Pakistani win at the Grammys, the first Pakistani film to be selected at the Cannes Film Festival, a Pakistani song topping the most-searched list on Google, local actors featured in international series, and the highest-grossing film in the history of Pakistani cinema, 2022 has been a banner year for Pakistani art,’ observes Surbhi Gupta, South Asia Editor at New Lines magazine.

Traditional Chinese medicine demand fuels illegal orchid trade in Nepal

According to a policy brief prepared by the Kathmandu-based NGO Greenhood Nepal, which is spearheading a project focused on illegal trade and sustainable use of medicinal orchids in Nepal, the decline in their numbers has been attributed to unsustainable harvesting and international trade of the plants used in ayurvedic as well as traditional Chinese medicine.

Literary festivals are flourishing in Pakistan; interest in native literature waning

Pakistani writers are not only writing about love and romance, but also on feminism, religion, culture, socio-political, ethnic, and identity issues.

Hockey, friendship, Partition, and the pangs of separation: Old Lahore remembered through a documentary

Every scene in this intimately filmed documentary tugs at the heartstrings. The pain of separation felt so palpable to me that I wept with the characters.