Chris Rock to Kunal Kamra: My Transformation into a Comedy Uncle
Personal Essay by Deepak Sridhar: ‘You have arrived at the footsteps of Indian uncle-dom when, watching someone in the public sphere do something of note, you think to yourself: “That could have been me.” In my case, the “what-if” pursuit was stand-up comedy.’
Dreams of Californication
A personal story of music and brotherhood: “Kau had also bought me the album before he left the country. Even though he would come back soon, it would turn out that us living apart in different cities would be a feature—and not a bug.” By Deepak Sridhar
Black Plums and a Purple Heart
Personal Essay by Babli Yadav: ‘Ten minutes into our ride, we land upon this road patch with grave signs of purple. Hundreds of fallen fruits of an old jamun tree, squished, squashed, and beaten by the dance of the July winds.’
A Study in Pink
Short story by Sachin Ravikumar: ‘The pink tabebuia is a picture of quiet grace. It does not impose. Its presence is a welcome respite from a noisy, polluted city perennially draped in tones grey or garish… Was this tree really from here? Were we still in Bangalore?’
Bengaluru Through the Pages of Time
An isolation hospital, a raging bull, a love rock, and many more stories come together in Eleven Stops to the Present, a new children's book on the history of India’s Silicon Valley - by Barkha Kumari
Indian Tiger, Foreign Gaze
The White Tiger (2021) is a dark and explosive rags-to-riches Indian story, cooked to be palatable to Western tastes. The adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s novel sticks too close to its source, losing on screen what was gained in text. By Karan Madhok
The Crumbling Fourth Pillar
In recent years, journalists have been attacked, intimidated, and the likes of Gauri Lankesh and Shujat Bhakari murdered. Nikita Chatterjee explains how violence, government pressure, paid news, and more have shackled India’s press freedoms and landed a major blot upon our idea of democracy.
Disrupting the Ecosystem: Is Bengaluru India’s New Literary Capital?
Over the decade, a number of literary giants have emerged from Bengaluru—including Vivek Shanbagh, Madhuri Vijay, and more—to garner worldwide critically acclaim. Kamalpreet Singh Gill argues that the trend is a sign of the country’s ‘Silicon Valley’ evolving into the new heartbeat of Indian literature.
The Chakkar with Bangalore’s Live Music Scene
Anurag Tagat explains how Bengaluru’s iconic live music venues are trying to survive in changing times