Video & free eBook | India’s first female comic book superhero challenges misleading information: “Masked Indian comic superhero fights Covid-19 fear”

In Priya’s Mask, due to be launched on 2 December, the comic crusader joins hands with Jiya, the “Burka Avenger”, a popular character from a Pakistani cartoon show, as the …

Interview on the award winning documentary “Have You Seen The Arana?”: A sojourn that takes you through the crests, troughs and flats of Wayanad – Kerala

Though Ningal Aranaye Kando has a bleak premise, filmmaker Sunanda Bhat injects it with the lightness of everyday occurrences, simple slice-of-life moments and hope for the future, finds Catherine Rhea …

The Gond community: Discoveries in Indian history – Indus Valley, Chhattisgarh, Telangana & Karnataka

Gonds living in central and southern India could have migrated from the Indus Valley civilisation – KarnatakaPossibly “a revolutionary find” that links the adivasi Gond tribe to the Indus Valley …

eBook | “Painted Words”: An Anthology edited by Prof Ganesh Devy – Tribal Literature from all over India

“It is almost impossible to characterize all of India’s tribals in a single ethnographic or historic framework. […] After Independence, these communities were ‘denotified’ and placed quite randomly in the …

Adivasi rice beer – ceremonial drinking vs bondage caused by strong liquor

Adivasis and alcohol Historically, ‘pioneers’ of ‘civilized’ dominant (‘mainstream’ is politically incorrect) society have used alcohol to enslave and destroy the indigenous communities they invaded. Like exploitative marauders, they credited …

Joint efforts, not denials, make India a safer place for girls and women – West Bengal & Madhya Pradesh

Why am I returning repeatedly to the theme of rape, I puzzled, as I began this blog post. Because, I realized, the problem’s become worse, not better. Rape stories are …

The Asurs’ remembrance of their ancestors: A ‘particularly vulnerable’ tribal group – Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh & West Bengal

Chamru is an Asur, a ‘particularly vulnerable tribal group’ that dominates Sakhuapani’s population of about 2,000 and lives in villages spread over a radius of 10 to 20 km. Besides Jharkhand, …

eBook | Forest of Tigers: People, Politics and Environment in the Sundarbans

FOREST OF TIGERS: PEOPLE, POLITICS AND ENVIRONMENT IN THE SUNDARBANSby Annu Jalais (Routledge India, 2009) Acclaimed for its unique ecosystem and Royal Bengal tigers, the mangrove islands that comprise the …