Keyword : Culture

“#OccupyYamuna”? Before Sri Sri’s extravaganza, it was Akshardham

Going by the activities over the years in the riverbed and floodplains in Delhi, there seems to be a veritable #OccupyYamuna campaign going on. Sri Sri Ravishankar’s

And the show goes on – with Modi on WCF dais

Activists, courts, and finally even the rain could not stop Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s World Culture Festival. Prime minister Narendra Modi too ignored alerts about its rickety dais and attended

Online protest will not help Yamuna: Kapil Mishra

Lashing out at some of the detractors of the World Culture festival, organised by the Art of Living (AoL) foundation, Delhi water resources and tourism minister Kapil Mishra has said that nowaday

Making India a cultural power

A dancer, choreographer, art administrator, organiser of Delhi Art International Festival and a writer with a mission, Pratibha Prahlad, was honoured with Padma Shri this year.

Why NSD needs to revise its script to serve its purpose better

Next to Mandi House, in a scenic and historical part of the national capital, stands the National School of Drama (NSD), a premier institution for theatre training. It functions as an autonomous bo

“Mediocrity breeds, promotes, awards and nourishes mediocrity”

Sahitya Akademi award winning poet Ashok Vajpeyi returned his award in 2015 supporting “the right to dissent”, and was instrumental in the protest against the murder of writers. Vaj

Chipped nib, dried ink

“As president of the Akademi, I may tell you quite frankly I would not like the prime minister to interfere with my work.” – Jawaharlal Nehru, first president, Sahitya

Contemporary India in MoUH: a journalistic guide

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy’s new novel in two decades, reads like non-fiction at time – in a welcome sense, in a non-post-truth kind of way. Its characte

Why kick up a storm over the Taj

 There is a hue and cry over Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government dropping the Taj Mahal from its list of important tourist destinations. Some media reports also stated that the Yogi g

Free music is questionable: Carnatic vocalist Sudha Ragunathan

Sudha Ragunathan is a renowned Carnatic vocalist and composer. She has performed across India and abroad. Her guru was Padma Bhushan ML Vasanthakumari, known by many as a musical genius and a d

Hindi’s narrow readership is a concern: Nikhil Sachan

Nikhil Sachan is one of the most promising names among contemporary Hindi writers. His first book, Namak Swadanusar, a collection of short stories published in 2013, was praised widely in liter

Obscenity in the name of Bhojpuri should be categorised as adult and sidelined: Sharda Sinha

In the early 1970s, during a talent hunt show organised by Gramophone Company of India, legendary singer Begum Akhtar gave a pat on the back to a young contestant.“Riyaz karo, bahot aage

“Let’s look at monuments not just as history but as art”

Swapna Liddle’s wide and warm smile is the kind of comfort one looks for on a cold January afternoon. Her love for Delhi, its monuments, its history, resulted in a doctoral thesis on 19th

Amit Shah on India’s languages: What else he said

Home minister Amit Shah’s remark on the need for a single national language has rightly sparked a debate, but the headlines missed much in his speech about language, culture, and identity.

Vice President springs surprise, speaks in 22 languages

Highlighting the importance of preserving, protecting and promoting Indian languages, the vice president of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu spoke in 22 languages at an event to mark International Moth

How learning is set to change with New Education Policy

With the union cabinet’s approval for the much-discussed New Education Policy (NEP), learning processes in the country are set to undergo radical changes. The cabinet chaired b

A walk down the rich history of Ayurveda

The Indic Quotient: Reclaiming Heritage through Cultural Enterprise By Kaninika Mishra Bloomsbury India, 230 pages, Rs. 499   

JNU as a state of mind

JNU Stories:  The First 50 years Edited by Neeladri Bhattacharya, Kunal Chakrabarti, S. Gunasekaran, Janaki Nair and Joy L. K. Pachuau Aelph / xl + 468

All you want to know about Republic Day celebrations 2021

India is celebrating the 72nd Republic Day on Tuesday. Attendance at the main celebrations in the capital is limited given the pandemic, yet Covid-19 has not dampened the spirit of the occasion. In

“Upliftment of tribal communities is interesting but challenging”

Shubhasish Chakraborty has been working for the upliftment of tribal areas of India. He wears several hats while discharging his duties as a general manager in a global conglomerate apart from

No Dahi Handi celebrations on Janmashtami in Maharashtra for second year

With the pandemic, Maharashtra will have muted Dahi Handi celebrations – the main attraction of the Janmashtami festival in the state – for the second year in a row. In a meeting held w

How Homo Sapiens urbanised in the blink of an evolutionary eye

Work: A History of How We Spend Our Time By James Suzman Bloomsbury, 464 pages

R-Day parade showcases India’s military might, cultural diversity

President Ram Nath Kovind led the Nation in celebrating the 73rd Republic Day today as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ across the country. The celebration saw a series

Teen Choto Chamuch

Nautanki Saala and Other Stories

Mahabharata: Ways of reading the epic in our times

Mahabharata: The Epic and the Nation By G.N. Devy Aleph Books, 150 pages, Rs 499 The Mahabharata is one of the greatest literary masterpie

“India is the only ancient civilisation that still survives and thrives”

Aman Singh Maharaj, a South African author of Indian origin, is making a literary debut with ‘A Dalliance with Destiny’ (Austin Macauley), which takes us on a mystical journey to India

A great literary feast (that could’ve been even more sumptuous)

A Case of Indian Marvels: Dazzling Stories from the Country’s Finest Writers Edited by David Davidar Aleph, 390 pages, Rs 999 Change is

Ram Shravan Manan: A musical venture that leads to self-reflection

There is this popular saying that epics are never told, but always retold. Ramayana is one such epic and needs no introduction. Its plot is grounded in sacrifice and the end brings out hope that th

Spotting and nurturing young talent, helping them bloom

Things don’t turn up in this world, as former US president James A. Garfield once said, until someone turns them up. This is all the more so, when one considers the hidden gems that are waiti

Why K.R. Meera’s ‘Jezebel’ is not exactly a ‘good bad book’

Jezebel By K.R. Meera (Translated from the Malayalam by Abhirami Girija Sriram and K.S. Bijukumar) Hamish Hamilton, 400 pages, Rs 599 &

Azim Premji: An ‘Iconic Indian’ who is extraordinary businessman, philanthropist

Iconic Indians: 75 Extraordinary Individuals Who Inspired the Country By Sanjeev Sanyal and Rajesh Singh Rupa Publications, 360 pages, Rs 695  

Samanvaya —an Integral Part of Hindutva

Aravindan Neelakandan has come out with a new work, ‘Hindutva: Origin, Evolution, and Future’ (Kali Imprint; BluOne Ink), which promises to be a must-read for understanding Hindutva

New excavation season to begin at Delhi’s Purana Qila

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is all set to begin excavation at Delhi’s Purana Qila again. The excavation will be led by Vasant Swarnkarand would be the third season of excavation

The Boy Who Became the Mahatma

This year, as the nation commemorates the 75th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, Rajesh Talwar, a prolific author who is also a legal advisor to the UN, is all set to release a

What exactly is new in ‘A New History of India’

A New History of India: From Its Origins to the Twenty-First Century By Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Shobita Punja and Toby Sinclair Aleph Books, pp 480, Rs 999

A Mind and Heart without Corners

In Love, At Ease: Everyday Spirituality with Pramukh Swami By Yogi Trivedi Penguin Random House, 360 pages, Rs 499

How Kasturba saw the Gandhi story

ReFocus: The Films of Shyam Benegal Edited by Sneha Kar Chaudhuri and Ramit Samaddar Orient BlackSwan, 272 pages, Rs 1050 Shyam Benegal, a tra

Rama beyond Ramayana: Stories from other sources

Untold Stories of Ramayana By Gaurang Damani 194 pages, Rs 300

Gandhi’s Triumph over the Fear of Death

The Essential U. R. Ananthamurthy Edited by N. Manu Chakravarthy and Chandan Gowda Aleph Books, Rs 899, 312 pages

Yoga Day celebrated across the globe with increased mass participation

The 9th edition of International Day of Yoga 2023 was a successfully celebrated on much larger scale and witnessed new initiatives. The main National event at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh saw enthusias

A veritable seminar on history – past and present – with Romila Thapar

The Future in the Past: Essays and Reflections By Romila Thapar Aleph, 336 pages, Rs 999

Gandhi in Tamil Nadu: A researcher’s tribute

Gandhi`s Travels in Tamil Nadu. By A. Ramasamy, Translated from the original Tamil by P. C. Ramakrishna.

The casebook of a ghost hunter

Ghost Hunter Gaurav Tiwari: The Life and Legacy of India’s Foremost Paranormal Investigator By Abhirup Dhar and Indian Paranormal Society Rupa, 272 pa

Who we are: ‘Indians’ throws light on our civilization, origins and evolution

The Indians: Histories of a Civilization Edited by G. N. Devy, Tony Joseph, and Ravi Korisettar Aleph, 648 pages, Rs 1,299

Restored Byculla station wins UNESCO award

The 169-year-old Byculla railway station of Central Railway has not only been restored to its heritage architectural glory but has also bagged the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award of Merit for Cultural He

How to become Gandhi: A new book chronicles an experiment

Becoming Gandhi: Living the Mahatma`s 6 Moral Truths in Immoral Times By Perry Garfinkel Simon & Schuster India, 264 pages, Rs 699

‘Garba of Gujarat’, now a Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage

`Garba of Gujarat` has been inscribed in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity by UNESCO, under the provisions of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Int

H-pop: Not far from the madding crowd

H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars By Kunal Purohit HarperCollins, 306 pages, Rs 499

Tagore’s ‘Nationalism’: Much more than a critique of it

Explorations in Colonial Bengal: Essays on Religion, Society, and Culture Edited by Achintya Kumar Dutta, with a Foreword by Amiya P. Sen

New Ashoka biography: Engaging life-story of an emperor who ruled by Dharma

Ashoka: Portrait of a Philosopher King By Patrick Olivelle HarperCollins, 400 pages, Rs 799.00

Driving a resurgence in Northeast

Modi’s Northeast Story Edited by Tuhin A. Sinha and Aditya Pittie Rupa, 22 pages, Rs 595

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


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