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Daring daughters: Malashri Lal reviews Usha Akella’s ‘I Will Not Bear You Sons’

A feminist assertion of identity through several cultures, Usha Akella’s I Will Not Bear You Sons is perhaps the first book of poetry to confront global violence against women, contextualised by patriarchal norms. The dedication is to “The Feminine: all her names, forms, aspects and expressions,”...

feminist I Will Not Bear You Sons
Betrayed by hope by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal – Book Review

Literature is vast and in that Indian literature has many precious gems and pearls, some of which remain unexplored. To me, Michael Madhusudan Dutt was one such gem. The play Betrayed by Hope penned by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal takes us through the tragic life of Dutt.The book which is only about...

Book Review Betrayed by hope
Book review | Sacred yet erotic: Radha and her love for Krishna

This anthology is a tribute to Radha, whose character has remained a mystery and captured the imagination of many writers across centuries. Considered the first of its kind, this book is a collection of poetry, prose and translation focussing on Radha, the epitome of love, who, according to authors,...

Finding Radha - The quest for love Lord Krishna
BOOK REVIEW: IN SEARCH OF SITA: REVISITING MYTHOLOGY

We visited Hampi last year during the monsoons. While we were sight-seeing among the numerous temples and ruins there, our guide mentioned that there is a cave nearby where Sugriva, the Vanara King of Kishkindha had supposedly lived during his exile. Unfortunately due to time constraint, we couldn’t...


Review: Betrayed by Hope, a play on the life of Michael Madhusudan Dutt

How does one engage with history without falling prey to the easy way of doing things; set the beginning, middle, and the end of a poet’s life one after the other like ducks in a row? Betrayed by Hope, a play on the life and work of the 19th century Bengali poet, Michael Madhusudan Dutt must, before...