PESHAWAR, 16 November: We hopped into the sky-blue Volkswagen Beetle on 4 November in Kathmandu, being seen off by Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav, and have now arrived here in
When we import alien contraptions, we lose our bearings. Southasians, particularly those in the monsoonal Subcontinent where water is abundant, like the idea of wet bathrooms. Wholesome water, from the
If Southasian-ness is a sensibility, then anyone can be a Southasian. The requirement is having respect for the history of the Subcontinent and empathy for its people. You can be
Hasan Mansur (Milon-da), the tourism entrepreneur of Bangladesh, has lovingly built a boat to the specifications of his own experience and his deltaic country. The M V Aboshar has 20
Just when one thought one knew a little bit about everything, one realises there are some things one knows nothing at all about. Recently, one such revelation caught up with
The human mind craves travel, be it through geographical terrain or through time. Take a train, trek or bicycle, and you suddenly find yourself in different surroundings. This translocation fulfils
Come with me early this upcoming winter for a trip through backwater history, across borders and ecological zones, across fields, rivers, forests, gorges – and to confront the invasion of modern
19 August: Independence Day of Afghanistan
14, 15 August: Independence days of Pakistan and India, respectively
4 February: Independence Day of Sri Lanka
26 March: Independence Day of Bangladesh
Either Nepali politics is incredibly unscrupulous or it is a trailblazer, with some of the more sensitively democratic politicians chaperoning a post-conflict society. Take the case of the elections for
I was recently asked by a friend to write a story, 'an imaginative, creative one'. There have been those who have remonstrated at the ease with which I
If instability, anarchy, mayhem and insecurity be the stuff of life, then we should be happy to be living in the Subcontinent, in many regards the most violent part of
Even though PIA Flight 269 was bound from Kathmandu to Karachi, I was excited to visit the Sindhi Hyderabad. For too long, the Deccan city and capital of Andhra, with
