India Archives

Pride and Pedicures

Beauty parlours in small-town India were a refuge for women, where they walked in and shed everything, from their clothes to centuries of inhibition. But the advent of big, branded salons has encroached upon that safe space.

Nimisha Misra July 30, 2016

Sports

The Lazy Elegance of Rohit Sharma

When you think Rohit Sharma, you think lazy elegance. At his best, his feet move like a ballerina dancer’s. On a bad day, he looks like a non-dancer at garba.

Arré Bench July 30, 2016

Gender

Rockin’ Them Designer Vaginas

Rhinoplasty and cheek implants are passé. The latest fad among Indian woman is hymen reconstruction, colloquially called revirginisation, where wives want to gift their husbands a new hymen.

Parthshri Arora July 29, 2016

Technology

Does India Deserve the Internet Freedom it Enjoys?

It might seem shocking, given how some of our ministers think the internet was invented during the Mahabharata, but the Indian internet is actually a marvel – compared to the EU and USA, who are considering draconian copyright laws and doing away with net neutrality respectively.

Dushyant Shekhawat July 29, 2016

POV

Dear Ad Makers, Do Superstars Really Drive Hatchbacks or Wear Sasta Baniyans?

What’s the deal with celebrity endorsements? Do companies really believe that consumers dash out to buy their new car just because Ranveer Singh supposedly uses one? Who really believes a Bollywood superstar would be caught dead driving a modest hatchback?

Deepak Kaul July 29, 2016

POV

Will the Burari Deaths Become the Next Netflix True Crime Show?

At a time when true crime shows and podcasts are ubiquitous, the way we “consume” a murder has changed. A few years from now, the Burari case might become a Netflix series, and the way we are following it now is dictated by our hunger for a true crime show.

Dushyant Shekhawat July 29, 2016

People

Broken Bones to Broken Heart: My Family’s “Thuk Patti” Quick Fix for Everything

Thuk patti is not just a temporary fix, it is a spot of amelioration. When my father left his parents’ home, my grandma grudgingly agreed but not without thuk patti: We had to visit every Sunday.

Preeti Vangani July 29, 2016

First Person

My Absent Abba

My Abba and I barely spoke. And while the lives of my friends’ fathers were not as complicated as my Abba’s, their memories of daddy-daughter conversations were limited too.

Farrah Kader July 29, 2016

People

The Half Mother of Mowgli Girl

When Neeta Newton, a nurse at Bahraich district hospital, first met the “Mowgli" girl, she would screech and bite. But Neeta knew this fight – to “humanise” her – would be a fight worth fighting.

Saurabh Sharma July 28, 2016

People

A Day in the Life of Delhi’s Rohingya Refugee

The controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to provide citizenship to persecuted minority refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, thousands of Rohingya Muslims, a minority in Myanmar who've fled genocide, continue to live in inhuman conditions across the country.

Parthshri Arora July 28, 2016