Reading Sumana Roy’s How I Became a Tree in the Lade Braes, Scotland. ‘The poetry of trees is, after all, about agency—the act of breaking, rending, repairing, citing through metaphor. But what agency do trees hold?’

Golchakkar Series - The October panel of our virtual literary talk featured Christopher Raja and Roanna Gonsalves: Dispatches from Australia.

‘Storytelling allows us to explore how we can discuss who we were and could be, through narratives.’ – Lakshya Datta on writing love stories for audio narratives in India and the art and business behind creating a podcast. By Varud Gupta

‘The idea is not to renounce the good things in life, but to actually understand them.’ Vipin Labroo argues why India—with its vast inequality, unemployment, and environmental concerns—needs a shot of minimalism in the lifestyles of our burgeoning population.

Poems by Kashiana Singh: ‘a lacquered / summer that lacks / rivulets waiting for / gods to decipher us’

‘Safety is never imagined; it has to be felt’. Ten years after its first publication, Saurabh Sharma argues why Law Like Love—a text that singularly captured the relationship between law and queerness in India from varying vantage points—remains as relevant as ever.

Poetry by Karna: ‘You know my ancestors’ history / and say I am the anomaly in your / clean galaxy.’

In Sophia Naz’s fourth poetry collection Open Zero (2021), humanity is not on a pedestal, but only serves as one of smaller units that make up the flawed, beautiful ecosystem of the world. By Karan Madhok

Ranjani Rao recalls the story behind her memoir, Rewriting My Happily Ever After, and how sharing a personal tale of divorce helped her find connection and community.

‘Artists are creating history the second time around.’ Curator and educator Shaleen Wadhwana discusses the intersection of art and history, curation in post-pandemic India, the NFT boom, and much more. By Varud Gupta

“One becomes a beast of burden, a puppet in the hands of the inherited history.” 25-year-old Dalit artist Keerthana Chandragiri discusses how experiences of self-image, discrimination, and trauma shaped the intimacies of her art. By Preeti Nangal

What’s The Chakkar? Episode 11: We’re listening to Tinctures; watching The Disciple; and reading books by Suchitra Vijayan and Kiley Reid. Featuring Anurag Tagat, Jamie Alter, and Shaista Vaishnav. Hosted by Karan Madhok.