Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: A relative’s perspective on an enigmatic hero
Nehru was revolted by Nazism and the persecution of Europe’s Jews. Bose…felt that the Indian struggle for freedom should override all other considerations.
Nothing matters, but Albert Camus’s 'The Stranger' does
Because of Camus, I started to believe in the idea of relative truth and realised how differently people may weigh the different aspects and incidents which occur in their lives.
Life in modern Dhaka as portrayed in 'A Strange Coincidence and Other Stories'
The 11 short stories encompass a number of ideas, mainly the binary oppositions of the human psyche, all covering the inner conflicts of human life.
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’—One series to fail them all?
What point is Lord of the Rings making in 2022? That people are racist and wage wars? The original trilogy, from two decades ago, was making that same point.
The dangerous game of Marlon James—Can genre fiction be great literature?
James seems to be saying to the establishment, to the same generous folks who once gave him the Booker and propelled him to the stratosphere: Go ahead and say this is not literature, I dare you.
Ottessa Moshfegh’s ‘Lapvona’: A fairy tale for realists
Lapvona has paupers becoming princes, severe environmental disruptions adding to the owe of the common folk, and the old lady acting as a witch and healer, who serves in the role of a fairy godmother, albeit with a modern touch.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: A relative’s perspective on an enigmatic hero
Nehru was revolted by Nazism and the persecution of Europe’s Jews. Bose…felt that the Indian struggle for freedom should override all other considerations.
Nothing matters, but Albert Camus’s 'The Stranger' does
Because of Camus, I started to believe in the idea of relative truth and realised how differently people may weigh the different aspects and incidents which occur in their lives.
Life in modern Dhaka as portrayed in 'A Strange Coincidence and Other Stories'
The 11 short stories encompass a number of ideas, mainly the binary oppositions of the human psyche, all covering the inner conflicts of human life.
'Women and Work in South Asia' explores feminism through a South Asian lens
Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhary’s chapter on the trafficking of women, with a focus on India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, teases out the differences in the lived experiences of the Adivasi, Dalit, and other marginalised women.
Contradictions in a book on the Bangladesh Liberation War
A "what it really was" analysis of the 1971 war does not mean the description of the actions of India only. It should also cover their mistakes and failures. The cover of this book claims to be a "definitive story", but its research and narrative are not holistic.
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.
Hulu’s ‘Rosaline’ is a witty, predictable parody of ‘Romeo and Juliet’
The movie tells the classic love story from the perspective of Juliet's cousin Rosaline, who happens to be Romeo's recent ex-girlfriend. Crushed when Romeo meets Juliet and begins to pursue her, Rosaline schemes to foil the famous romance and reclaim her man.
How ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ mirrors the social media age
To me, Wilde’s novel articulates the deepest anxieties of the late Victorians and continues to offer us ways to interpret our own experiences.
Love, fate, and age-old curses: 'The Book of Magic' by Alice Hoffman
The familial bond portrayed in the novel makes it easy to sympathise with the characters and they rarely seem woven in a piece of fiction; rather, their attributes are more lifelike and one may just find someone like Franny or Gillian Owens among their kith and kin.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: A chance encounter, and the rest is history
The memoir provides a good primer to Nusrat's life as a musician and the legacy he left.