by Keya Gupta Every year on the fourth Sunday of September, we mark World Rivers Day. But in India, no one really needs a reminder to think of rivers with reverence. Long before there were water treatment plants or environment ministries, there were mothers. Ganga, Narmada, Kaveri: not simply resources to draw from, but goddesses […]

by Keya Gupta In workshops across the country this week, mechanics will wipe down their tools and set them aside, just for a day. Weavers will do the same with their looms, blacksmiths with their hammers and potters with their wheels. As the Sun moves into Virgo, factories and workshops take a pause, all in […]

by Reena I. Puri How do you capture the essence of a man who was as boundless and infinite as his name – Anant? Charismatic, joyous, sparkling, deep as a bottomless gold mine, and soaring high with infectious energy. The 15 years that I spent as his Assistant Editor and then as his Associate Editor for […]

by Shree Sauparnika V A musical instrument is more than an object. It carries the knowledge, skill and imagination of the community that makes it. Across India, generations of craftspeople have learnt to understand wood, leather, metal, strings, and sound—and turn them into instruments that can sing. Their knowledge is not always written down. It […]

by Keya Gupta August carries some of the most important dates of the Indian Freedom Struggle. On 8th August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the call for the Quit India Movement, pushing the country towards its final phase of struggle against British rule. On 12th August, the world observes International Youth Day, a fitting occasion to […]

By Shree Sauparnika V.  When we think of the Guru-Shishya Parampara, our minds usually paint a very specific picture: a wise sage with a long white beard, sitting under a massive banyan tree, while students sit in a neat circle memorising verses. But that is only one small chapter of a much grander story.  In ancient and medieval India, […]

by Keya Gupta High up in the Ziro Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, the Apatani tribe has spent generations cultivating paddy in the mountains. Every July, before the paddy has fully ripened, the Apatanis pause their labour to celebrate Dree, a festival that asks the gods to keep pests, disease and hunger away from their fields and homes.  The legend of the Dree Festival starts with Abotani, the […]

by Shree Sauparnika V.  As the first monsoon rains sweep across Goa, its landscape undergoes a dramatic transformation. Dry fields turn a lush green, rivers swell, and the scent of wet earth fills the air. It is against this vibrant backdrop that Goa celebrates São João, one of its most distinctive and high-spirited festivals. Observed annually on June 24, this […]