By Aakriti Mandhwani

Through her study of several issues of Sarita, Mandhwani emphasizes that it was, by nature, contemporaneous, modernizing and multi-dimensional; collapsed distinctions between genders and also public and domestic spaces; commented on social and familial structures; eschewed linguistic chauvinism and a homogenized nationalistic sensibility; questioned mythic beliefs and even reconfigured practices of gendered reading by means of a range of literary, non-fictional and critical pieces and advisories.


Reviewed by: Fatima Rizvi
By Zilka Joseph

Sweet Malida is a deeply moving and sensory offering. It gives readers an intimate look into the world of the Bene Israel, a small but ancient community in India. Zilka Joseph pays tribute to her growing up as a Jew in Mumbai and Kolkata, two very multicultural cities. Her childhood memories are intertwined with the…


Reviewed by: Jael Silliman
By Khwaja Ahmad Abbas

Inquilab’s narrative privileges the political movement led by Gandhi and the Congress, and evades the vast complexities of social and political turmoil that India experienced. One only has to look at similar other contemporary literary work—particularly the writings by Munshi Premchand such as Seva Sadan, Rangbhoomi,


Reviewed by: Moggallan Bharti
Edited by Rakhshanda Jalil

Today, that same Majnu Ka Tila, now ‘MKT’ to Gen Z, features in Ankush Saikia’s ‘Chang Town’, where Northeastern students navigate racism, longing, and identity in the capital’s northern campuses. The two stories could not be more different in form or sentiment, yet together they trace a micro-history of urban transformation: a city seen through the same coordinates, altered by time. There are many such resonances across the book. Jalil’s Introduction wisely sets them up. Stories in Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, English and Malayalam reflect Delhi’s many avatars—as imperial capital, partition city, bureaucratic core, queer subculture, site of migration and protest.


Reviewed by: Nikhil Kumar
By Harleen Singh

As the writer documents the various forces that are shaking the social foundations of Punjab and transforming them beyond recognition, he foregrounds the role of women as they participate enthusiastically and creatively, be it in the various reform movements like the Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj, or in the world of print media where they become increasingly vocal.


Reviewed by: Anjana Neira Dev