‘I missed the recklessness of youth and wanted to prove to myself that I could still test my limits—if only for a weekend.’ Unguided, unprepared, and unfazed, Karan Madhok recalls the horrors and hope from a fateful Himalayan trek to Nag Tibba.

In the crippling second wave of the pandemic, that pleasant Instagram reel is a distraction for some—and a privilege for others. Barkha Kumari dialled in the social media generation and mental health experts for their take on the dilemma of the public display of happiness.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s Whereabouts is a novel of contradictions and duality, straddling an oppressive loneliness and a contented solitude, reclusiveness and intimacy, emptiness and fulfilment. By Sohel Sarkar

Seema Pahwa’s directorial feature Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi is a realistic narrative in the face of death, peppered with grief, comedy, and epic performances by an ensemble cast. By Saurabh Sharma

‘Art starts with an idea… and eventually seems to have its own life and direction.’ Chintan Girish Modi recaps Shakti Maira’s life, art, and impact.

What’s The Chakkar? Episode 7: We’re reading Namit Arora and Suketu Mehta; listening to Project Mishram; and watching the Hotstar series OK Computer. Featuring Shaista Vaishnav, Anurag Tagat, and Prateek Santram. Hosted by Karan Madhok.

For decades, abandoned and alone in a desolate jungle mansion in Delhi lived Wilayat Mahal and her self-proclaimed royal family. After the death of the last prince at Malcha Mahal, Abhimanyu Kumar decoded history, personal accounts, and mysterious texts to explore if the family were the true inheritors of the House of Oudh.

Golchakkar Series - The May panel of our virtual literary talk features Sonnet Mondal, Anju Makhija, Aakriti Kuntal, and Ashwani Kumar: Poetry and the Pandemic.

The Disney+ Hotstar series OK Computer (2021) is an uneven but entertaining show, swimming in the ambitious territory of mystery, comedy, science fiction, and philosophy, all in an uniquely Indian setting. By Karan Madhok

Given how the pandemic’s second wave has devastated India, the BCCI’s decision to postpone the IPL should’ve been made much earlier. Cricket, in the time of crisis and tragedy, had felt plain wrong. By Jamie Alter

“Floundering in a bottomless ocean”: A new English translation of Manada Devi’s landmark 1929 book, An Educated Woman in Prostitution: A Memoir of Lust, Exploitation, Deceit underlines the historical and cultural value of this text. By Saurabh Sharma

An interview with author Saba Karim Khan: “Skyfall illuminates the soul of a Sufi love song. It is underpinned by a longing for hope, a desperation to see the glass half-full, despite the bleakness we envision about the future.”- By Chintan Girish Modi