Long Reads News - Page 16
Conservancy workers' two decade-struggle highlighted in photo series by Sudharak Olwe
Conservancy workers — manual scavengers employed with urban municipalities — clean (often with their bare hands and few or inadequate tools) excreta and other waste, blocked sewers and drains. Since January 2017, one person has died every five days, on average, while cleaning sewers and septic tanks across the country
Floods on Karnali force local population to migrate, as embankments fail to provide relief
Flood embankments built along the Karnali in India have exacerbated disastrous floods and made people more vulnerable
Himalayas witness unabated construction as authorities ignore looming climate change issues
While infrastructure projects such as dams and roads gather pace in the Himalayas, there is no cooperation between India, China and Nepal to tackle the growing problems associated with climate change
Monsoon Music: In Punjab, singing songs of Sawan
In the first part of our #MonsoonMusic series, a look at the folk music of Punjab that is inspired by the rain
Amid politicking, Nepal's largest dam project has left locals in limbo for decades
Nepal’s largest dam project is caught up in wider regional political play, leaving locals in limbo for decades.
Bandersnatch or Bandar's Naach? The Black Mirror 'event' isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
it seems the purpose of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch was: Give the masses a shiny new toy to play with, devoid although it may be of substance and finesse, and watch the monkeys dance. Bandar’s Naach anyone?
Colonial India, as captured by master photographers, is focus of a new exhibition in Hyderabad
The 74 photographs that form a part of Spectacular: Cities and People in Hyderabad give a glimpse into the city planning, architecture, traditions and faith practised 1858 to the early-mid 1900s — at times a diversion, and at times strikingly similar to the times we live in now
A Conjurer’s Archive: Jangarh Singh Shyam's art gets its due in thought-provoking exhibition
In 2001, the Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam committed suicide, possibly as a result of being lonely and overworked while completing a residency at a gallery in Japan. A new exhibition looks back at his life and art.
Abandoned by Nepal and China, the Hilsa village lives in fear of floods
Tibet’s development boom has left downstream Nepal more vulnerable to floods and dam collapse – with both governments turning a blind eye
Amshu Chukki looks at a protest that never happened
Amshu Chukki’s on-going interest in the political histories of Karnataka is routed via the site, more specifically, sites of protest scattered across the state capital, Bangalore
Abhishek Hazra on How to Hide Your Hegel
In the aftermath of the recent arrests of activists and writers, the Almora chapter of the Kankurgachi Hegel Club, an amateur group of Hegel enthusiasts, is worried and can’t help wonder if it is safe to keep Hegel on their bookshelves. They have initiated a three-pronged—that is, by heart, by scroll and by marginalia—project to hide Hegel
Mo’Halla and the film Jagte Raho on everything that doesn’t disappear
In this chapter of Jagte Raho, which features art and text by Mo’Halla, humans are caught in the big infrastructure of the big city. His work Nightfall in Democracy Heights makes jibes at and speculates on demonetisation
7 Isles Unclaimed or the Mumbai That Could Have Been
7 Isles Unclaimed digs into Bombay's reclamation, the colonial project that converted seven islands — the Isle of Bombay, Colaba, Old Woman's Island (Little Colaba), Mahim, Mazagaon, Parel and Worli — into something closer to the peninsular shape that appears on maps today.
Hazarding guesses with Sahej Rahal
In addition to the contemporary art world, Sahej Rahal’s work partakes among fan-produced material around Star Wars. The text for his exhibition Adversary relates a situation where Rahal bumps into the filmmaker George Lucas at Bandra Fort
Noticing and note-taking with Shubhangi Singh
The anecdotes that emerge from Shubhangi Singh's process of note-taking explore a wider framework of female existence and operation in the public sphere
Bengal's favourite fish, the hilsa, could soon be extinct as fishing trawlers flout laws
Trawler owners ignore the seasonal bans on Hilsa fishing, driving Bengal’s favourite fish to near-extinction in the Ganga.
In Bihar, along the Gandak, silt cultivation offers landless farmers a scanty sustenance
Landless labourers in Bihar benefit from the silt that comes down from the Himalayas with the Gandak river by growing vegetables, but it is an extremely tough life, with very little profit for the farmer
Along the Teesta in Bangladesh, pumpkins are a cause for hope
Pumpkin cultivation on sandbars has drawn hundreds and thousands out of extreme poverty in Bangladesh, and this change in cultivation patterns may pave the way for others, as water flow in the Teesta declines
India, Bangladesh — and the story of three transboundary rivers which no longer sustain life
Dam building and pollution have turned transboundary rivers between India and Bangladesh into dirty sludge, unable to sustain life
Climate change threatens dolphin habitats in Ganga
The increasing demand for river water and the overall rise in temperature are adversely impacting the life cycle of dolphins
Nepal embraces embankments, but poor planning, corruption pose problems
While most Nepalese blame the 2008 breach on India, Nepal itself has constructed hundreds of kilometres of embankments, which remain popular, despite fundamental flaws
Nepal’s fertile wetlands dying out due to ignorance, unplanned development
Undervalued and ignored, wetlands are disappearing and drying up in Nepal – leaving the communities and wildlife that depend on them exposed in a changing climate
The Yamuna: Delhi's worshipped — and abused — river
A photographer’s journey down the Yamuna in Delhi captures the extent of abuse and encroachments
Indian government revives controversial dam project on Yamuna
A massive dam project on the Yamuna is being revived by the Indian government, despite concerns of environment and financial sustainability, and despite the case against the dam being in court
In flood-prone Bihar, expert committee warns about mounting silt crisis
The Ganga carries one of the highest levels of sediment of any river in the world, which leads to devastating floods in the already flood-prone state of Bihar
Tiger deaths in 2018 lower than previous years, but habitat loss, poaching still pose threat
Nearly half of the total tiger deaths in 2018 – 49 to be precise – were outside tiger reserves
The First Summer After You, And Other Poems
This collection of five poems deals with the themes of beginnings or endings in some way. The featured poets include Urvashi Bahuguna, Manik Sharma, Mihir Vatsa, Rohini Kejriwal and Maya Palit.
Last days of Rex: As curtains come down on Bengaluru's iconic theatre, patrons attend final shows
On 30 December 2018, I spent an afternoon photographing at Rex Theatre on Brigade Road, Bengaluru. I had seen many movies there. (I had missed photographing the Plaza Theatre before it shut down few years ago.) Rex was full of nostalgia seekers, there to see the last shows.
Two faces of Sheikh Hasina and political alternatives to BNP and Awami League in Bangladesh
In between some military-ruled governments, Bangladesh has been run since Independence by only two political parties: Either by the Centre-Left leaning Awami League or the Centre-Right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
In 1984 carnage, unanswered questions remain over Kamal Nath's role: An eyewitness account
A reporter recounts what he witnessed at the Rakab Ganj Gurdwara in 1984: Kamal Nath's presence among a mob that had killed