culture

The 27-Step Skincare Routine

The 27-Step Skincare Routine

What is the cost of beauty? When did skincare become so complicated, and is all of it really necessary?

The Decade of the Indian Internet Novel

The Decade of the Indian Internet Novel

Not only is the Internet Novel in India an experiment with contemporary form, but also a sign of a difficult political moment. 

What Would It Mean If Women Were Allowed to Dream?

Salma’s Women, Dreaming is a feminist text; a generational tale of women bound to each other by blood, marriage, and proximity.

An Ode to Disappearing Terraces

Terraces seem like a small sacrifice to make in the face of rapid development, and balconies are now presented as the alternative to terraces. Seriously, who are we kidding?

Royal Blue Pyjamas

A Eulogy for My Royal Blue Botanical Pyjama Set

Each time I folded the collar of my shirt, it felt like I had dog-eared the day and marked its existence in my mental journal of lockdown memories.

The Baby-Sitters Club

The Baby-Sitters Club

Watching The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix takes an author back to reading the series of books while growing up in early-2000s Calcutta.

The Greens of My Lives

The Greens of My Lives

A reflection on the myriad and plentiful greens of the listless city of Pune in an attempt to ward off the disparaging heat-fatigue of New Delhi.

Bystander

Standing By

Conceptualised by the Kadak Collective, the Bystander anthology is an ambitious crowdfunded project that aims to gather works created by a diverse group of over 50 South Asian creators from 13 countries.

Fertile Baldness

Fertile Baldness

Shame, non-acceptance, and exclusion unfailingly accompany baldness. But baldness can be fertile, too—for humour and style, if nothing else.


Bombay

Verticals

Modern, Western-aspiring society has a crisis of lifestyle; its problem is not its physical distance from nature, but its emotional distance.

Woman in Charge: Gram Sabha

Woman in Charge: Gram Sabha

Tara wished she could speak more at these meetings, but there were important people here. She had to make a good impression.

Woman in Charge

Woman in Charge: Water

Tara had just discovered an ugly truth. This man, this public servant, was flaunting his corruption. She didn’t want him to win.