The menace of vanishing snows now haunts the Himalayan region, taking away the very essence of the mountains for Indians and people from around the world. By Vipin Labroo

Poetry by Kiriti Sengupta: ‘In the crematorium, / the priest asks me to / smear ghee on my / father’s skin. He ensures / the fire finds Baba luscious.’

For centuries, Varanasi has welcomed all visitors into the same all-encompassing embrace. With aggressive forces of politics and religion threatening to segregate his hometown, Karan Madhok argues for the need to preserve the city’s true harmonious spirit.

Photo Essay: Lost without direction, and happy to keep moving—Varanasi’s labyrinthine old gullies and the Ganga riverside provide the glimpse of a world without time, where the ancient world collapses into the present. By Karan Madhok