I’m an independent journalist and children’s author based in Siliguri, in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. I report as a correspondent for Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders).
My work spans politics, culture, media, social justice, and the environment, focusing on India and its neighbours. Over the years, my bylines have appeared in Scroll.in, The Wire, Mint Lounge, Forbes India, The Hindu, Himal Southasian, Fountain Ink, Nikkei Asia, The New York Times (India Ink blog), The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, World Politics Review, and The Diplomat, among others.
I began my career in mainstream newsrooms, including The Telegraph and The Economic Times. I’ve been fortunate to hold international fellowships—as a Reuters Fellow at the University of Oxford (2012–13), and as a fellow of the International Journalists’ Programme (Germany, 2010).
In 2020, I received the Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity for my longform reportage on the lives of women in the closed tea gardens of north Bengal. I have also been a National Foundation for India fellow, reporting on sexual abuse and systemic gaps in India’s legal framework. I am the author of a children’s nonfiction biography, Ganju Lama: Sikkim’s Hero in War and Peace.
Alongside reporting, I conduct media-literacy and journalism workshops, moderate conversations around books and ideas, and co-curate Foothill Notes, an independent literary meet in Siliguri.
I contributed to the making of India’s first-ever trilingual glossary of media terms—in English, Hindi, and Nepali—as part of a team of academics and media professionals.
Mother. Wife. Sister.
Always a storyteller.

Recent Stories

A small Sikkim museum tells the big story of an unusual Gurkha hero

Ganju Lama, an ethnic Bhutia, wangled his way into the Gurkha regiments and won a Victoria Cross in the Second World War – and proved that a true Gurkha need not come from a “martial” race, or be defined only by battles and bravery “If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he…

Read more A small Sikkim museum tells the big story of an unusual Gurkha hero

More than a Tea-Cup: The Anatomy of a Bonus Deal

Siliguri: “Twenty, or there shall be no festival,” yelled Rajani Bhushal, a 64-year-old tea worker from Darjeeling’s Longview tea estate. She was one of the loudest demonstrators outside Shramik Bhawan, the north Bengal zonal office of the state government’s labour department in Siliguri. Inside, a tripartite meeting was on to decide the rate of bonus for…

Read more More than a Tea-Cup: The Anatomy of a Bonus Deal

Of Four Rivers & Six Ranges: Khampa Warriors Recount Their Stories

(From the archives: An edited version of this story was translated into French and published in the now-defunct magazine Asies in 2011.) Pokhara & Kathmandu (Nepal): Offering a spectacular panorama of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountain ranges, Pokhara airport can surely make into the list of the world’s most beautiful airports. Situated in one end…

Read more Of Four Rivers & Six Ranges: Khampa Warriors Recount Their Stories

A wave of bold new books on the Gorkhaland agitation

I only remember snatches of the conversation. “Bora ma baandheko” – Tied inside a sack – our neighbour relayed what she had heard from somewhere else. I remember the expression of fear and disgust on her face and her hand gestures as she showed how the victim’s breasts had been sliced off. That was all I…

Read more A wave of bold new books on the Gorkhaland agitation

Greed & Power Override Myth As India’s Poorest State Strives To End The Hunting Of Witches By 2023

Giridih (Jharkhand): It was an unusually cold December night and the waxing moon shone faintly over Bandhabad, a village 15 km from the district headquarters of Giridih in eastern Jharkhand. Shanti Devi finally managed to sleep, her 10-year-old granddaughter Neetu by her side, their feet warm at last in each other’s company. Suddenly, a frantic…

Read more Greed & Power Override Myth As India’s Poorest State Strives To End The Hunting Of Witches By 2023

Relegated to a supporting role, will the TMC catamaran sink or sail in Darjeeling?

“Mann ko kura man mai chha,” said Prem Kumari Lama, 62, in between selling lollipops to a toddler at her stall near Darjeeling’s Mirik Lake. “I’m holding my cards close to my chest.” At no cost will Prem Kumari drop any hints as to who she will be voting for in the assembly election. “Nobody…

Read more Relegated to a supporting role, will the TMC catamaran sink or sail in Darjeeling?

Featured

Indian farmers fear for survival despite lockdown’s relaxation

TAMANNA NASEER, VISHAL ARORA and ANURADHA SHARMA, Contributing writers APRIL 20, 2020 20:19 JST India’s government has partially relaxed its nationwide lockdown, especially in rural areas, but farmers find themselves with no workers and severed from supply chains. (Photo by Harshita Rathore) BANGALORE/SOTAI/DARJEELING — India’s government on Monday partially relaxed its lockdown in rural areas, allowing farmers…

Read more Indian farmers fear for survival despite lockdown’s relaxation

‘I think the “real” Rahul Gandhi is yet to emerge:’ Rasheed Kidwai on the Pitfalls of the Gandhi Dynasty

Five states in India are headed for elections in the next two months. The outcome of the regional elections is crucial in that it will decide how national politics will play out in the coming days, and years, leading up to national elections in 2019. For the 131-year old Indian National Congress, the principal opposition…

Read more ‘I think the “real” Rahul Gandhi is yet to emerge:’ Rasheed Kidwai on the Pitfalls of the Gandhi Dynasty