A graphic novel on the push and pull of friendships
The stories occur in places deeply etched into many of our memories—from rooftops to buses to benches in the park to the digital world of emails and texts.
1y ago
Lee Lai's 'Stone Fruit': Jokes, rhymes, and the depths of relationships
One of the most searing scenes in Lee Lai’s magnificent graphic novel, Stone Fruit (Fantagraphics, 2021) is when a young child, Nessie,
2y ago
Abdulrazak Gurnahs 'Afterlives': The repercussions of colonialism, unveiled
Abdulrazak Gurnah, this year’s Nobel laureate in literature, seems to come as an admirable choice compared to the Nobel Prize’s controversial recent history.
2y ago
Blood Brothers: exploring Ali and X’s bittersweet friendship
There are very few friendships that have attracted the public eye and provoked reactions of dread and rapacious approval in equanimity. One of those friendships - better described as blood brothers - is that of the charismatic militant civil rights activist, Malcolm X and the greatest boxer of all time, the ballistic and eye-brow raising trash talker, Muhammad Ali.
2y ago
Here’s why switching to ebooks is a good idea
Reading is popular. It has always been that way. Human beings have been reading ever since patterns of writing first emerged in cuneiform in Mesopotamia and books have always contained a kernel of our individual merriments.
2y ago
‘Wendy, Master of Art’: The life of the artist in graduate school
No one said earning a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) would be easy. After all, art is anything but a linear process of creation. It zigzags through tumultuous periods of unease, delicate uncertainties, and perpetual anxieties, along with quite a mouthful of self-induced negativity.
2y ago
Essential skills for budding researchers
Many people are interested in research and it is not uncommon for young people, especially recent graduates, to join think tanks or research centres to try their luck at expanding the frontier of knowledge.
2y ago
Revisiting the lost Jewish communities of Baghdad
Iraq once boasted one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities, encompassing 2,600 years of rich cultural history punctuated with moments of benign tolerance, blatant discrimination, and outright intolerance and persecution.
2y ago
April 8, 2021
An untold story of Black liberation in the Amazon
The New World, as started by Spanish and Portuguese authorities followed by the Dutch and the English, was built on the amputated bodies of countless indigenous and Black people.
February 11, 2021
The Code Name for a Bloodstained Era
Vincent Bevins is an award-winning journalist who covered Southeast Asia and Brazil for the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times respectively.
January 26, 2021
Nurturing warmth with sweet freeze
Gelatos has always been a favourite at our dinner tables serving as the prime dessert course. They pack a brilliant punch of intensified flavour, making it the perfect complement to have in any setting.
January 22, 2021
2020’s top astrophysicist Tonima Tasnim Ananna from Bangladesh explains just why black holes are so cool
Bangladeshi astrophysicist Tonima Tasnim Ananna, who recently topped the 2020 edition of Science News (SN) magazine's SN 10: Scientists to Watch, has been lauded for her outstanding groundbreaking research on black holes. Toggle caught up with Ananna for a chat, in hopes of understanding the fascinating phenomena of black holes.
January 19, 2021
Hairstyles to get the groove on
In a year that has generally been nothing short of surprises in every way, it has been quite an eventful journey for the hair follicles of men as many of us have decided to let our hair grow, all the way through the sides to beyond shoulder length.
January 15, 2021
I May Destroy You: A riveting portrayal of a survivor’s journey
Disclaimer: This is going to be a positive review that won’t make true justice to the subject. There are certain stories that are deeply etched into your mind.
January 12, 2021
History of tea
Having tea has always enmeshed with our favourite past times, be it sitting in the garden reading a book, having a family discussion, or even sharing a cup of tea with strangers in a nearby ‘tong,’ striking up interesting conversations and new friendships. Since ancient times to the current age,
January 8, 2021
Looking back at 2020: The ones who made us proud
In what was a terrible and ominous year, many individuals stood out to make the world a better place for the present and future. These are towering paragons of virtue who have made enormous strides in ensuring a more intellectually vibrant and medically safe world.
January 7, 2021
On Edward Said: Different shades of an intellectual
Edward Said is one of only a handful of intellectuals who can truly be said to have educated and influenced multiple generations on the Palestinian cause and the different prisms of thought through which we now look at literature, art, and history. In many ways, we are the heirs of the man who popularised the term, “Orientalism”; a man who championed the voices and struggles of the Global South in the Anglo-American sphere.
January 1, 2021
Notifications are killing you
The constant ping-pongs and pop-ups have become deeply embedded into our everyday mode of living causing a flow of untrammelled daily minute by minute reminders of various sorts from messages from friends, family, work, and the bank to update notifications to reminders by the apps to use them. Overall, all this seems to be overwhelming at times leading to the loss of energy and direction amid pandemonium and chaos looming large.
X