India
Politics in Prose
In recent years, several contemporary Indian novelists have written in direct response to ongoing sociopolitical changes in India and painted an intricate picture of what it means to be young and disenchanted in a deeply polarized country.
Narratives of Caste
While caste has recently infiltrated American discourse and become more mainstream in Indian media, Dalit writers and activists have been flooding the Indian literary markets with memoirs, short fiction and poetry since the late 1960s.
How Diljit Dosanjh Changed the Way Sikh Men Are Viewed in Pop Culture
While it was only in 2024 that Diljit Dosanjh became a household name in India, over the course of two decades the Punjabi pop star has slowly and effectively changed the way people look at Sikh men and present them in South Asian pop culture.
The Lives of Gulf Migrants in Malayalam Literature
When the novel “Goat Days” was published in 2008, it set a new tone for writing in Malayalam on the Gulf, partly by casting an Arab as a villain. Since then, many stories have followed its template.
A Film About a Goatherding Indian Migrant Sparks a Gulf Controversy
The film adaptation of a popular Malayalam-language novel has sparked an unexpected controversy in Saudi Arabia, as many think it shows the country in an unfair light. The story follows a migrant from India who ends up in slave-like conditions at a goat farm.
How America’s Philosopher of Democracy Influenced India’s Leading Caste Reformer
Bhimrao Ambedkar helped write the Indian Constitution, campaigned against caste oppression, and remains a household name for many in the country. His democratic vision combined the pragmatist ideas of the American philosopher John Dewey with his novel Navayana or “new vehicle” form of Buddhism.
History’s Long Afterlife — with Priyamvada Gopal
“I tend to use the word ‘afterlife’ rather than ‘the past’, because I think that things that have happened in history have a life in the present. It’s ongoing.”