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.
As the Women’s Game Grows in Popularity, Indian Cricket Remains Tied to Masculinity
As professional women’s cricket becomes popular in India, the absence of girls and women in the game’s more casual spaces raises the question of who it really belongs to. In the popular imagination, cricket is still a man’s game.
In India, Rape Culture Continues Unabated
As protests against the ghastly rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata continue, they are helping to reveal the larger epidemic of rape in India that thrives on a culture that objectifies women’s bodies, laughs at rape jokes and normalizes rape threats on social media.
India’s Abortion Laws Offer Pregnant Women an Illusion of Choice
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, India’s top court moved to further protect access to safe and legal abortion. But recent court cases have revealed the legal and bureaucratic hurdles that limit the right to choose.