About two years ago, my social media feeds were suddenly abuzz with the news of events around a children’s book on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Baby Sivok, written by David Charlesworth, a UK-based railway enthusiast. The tiny engineering marvel of a railway has had a soft spot in my heart ever since my days at…
Read more Siliguri Through Time: A Railway Enthusiast’s Nostalgic Journey
Mark Tully, the celebrated BBC journalist and one of the most perceptive chroniclers of India, died earlier this month. Long before he became synonymous with nuanced, empathetic reporting on the country, Tully had already formed a personal bond with it, spending five formative years of his childhood in Darjeeling during the Second World War. I…
Once in a while, we come across people who make us pause, think, and question the ways of the world. Bidyut-da is one such person. I spent some time with him last month, and since then have been meaning to share my thoughts about the pleasant autumn afternoon. Finally, here it is. Bidyut Roy is…
Cafe the Twins and Chhimeki collaborate to organise Analogue Connect monthly, a unique initiative to promote digital detox. Earlier this month, I found myself on a rather unusual panel at Analogue Connect, a monthly gathering at Café the Twins in Salbari, aimed at digital detox. (Aside: This café, run by my dear friend Lekha, is…
On May 1 this year, I received an invitation to attend the celebration of 139th International Labour Day at Longview Tea Estate. I wasn’t quite feeling well and there was a lot to do, but it was an opportunity I did not want to pass. So, I joined a bunch of lively young members of…
This is indeed a terribly late post. Last year, after a very long time, I got to see my byline on the Himal Southasian, the magazine that I have huge, huge respect for. An editor reached out to me wondering if I could write a review essay on the recent works of fiction that were…
I am quite chuffed to tell you that this weekend I am going to hobnob with some very well-known literary giants from this region, namely the eastern Himalayas roughly comprising Darjeeling, Sikkim and the Northeast. Cafe the Twins–it is my favourite place in Siliguri and I shall tell you more about it later–and Chhimeki, a…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally spoke out on Manipur, after 79 days of violence. It took a viral video of a horrific crime against two tribal women* to finally break his silence. It’s a welcome move, I thought at first, in hopes that his uttering something could help stop the ethnic conflict going on in…
Last year, a colleague of mine told me about a tea planter who had started a school for the deaf and mute at a tea garden in the Dooars. It was one of those “see if you could do a story on it” type of calls that we journalists often get. I am usually wary…
“It is our fault.” I have simply lost count of people telling this to me, in the context of the second wave of the Covid 19 pandemic ravaging the country. “We let our guards down.” If you have also been doing that, let me break the news to you: You have been gaslit. You have…
Read more Ignorance is bliss, not positivity. Be ‘negative’, ask questions.