An interview with Vikram Seth ♦ A version of this interview was originally published in India Today. After the buzz around BBC’s adaptation of A Suitable Boy, a new collector’s series of Vikram Seth’s poetry puts the spotlight on the author’s poetic accomplishments. The seven volumes showcase the breadth of Seth’s genius and the recurrent …
The futile stray dogs of these streets,Bestowed with a bent for begging,The curses of an age their wealth,A world of whacks their earnings. No rest at night, no easy morning;Dirt their home and drains their dwelling.If one snarls, set him on another—A piece of bread turns brother against brother. The ones who lap up every …
Akhil Katyal chronicles Delhi’s many moods in his new poetry collection ♦ Originally published in India Today. The last line of Agha Shahid Ali’s poem “Chandni Chowk, Delhi” gives Akhil Katyal’s new book its title, but the entire collection seems impelled by the poem’s opening command—“Swallow this summer street…” In these Delhi poems, Katyal imbibes …
Why pop-poet Rupi Kaur doesn’t worry about being unique. ♦ Originally published on VICE India. Fresh from her success at the Jaipur Literary Festival, 25-year-old Indian-Canadian poet Rupi Kaur met with VICE India editors Sonal Shah and Vivek Gopal earlier this year. Only glancingly familiar with her oeuvre, we flipped through her two books, Milk and Honey and The Sun …
Ghalib – I ♦ Against which artwork’s colour does the copy complain? For each picture’s face is a paper covering, plain. Of the hard soul’s digging — loneliness — ask not! Like Farhad, carving canals for cream through rough terrain. Witness for yourself passion’s unfettered zeal: The scimitar blade drawn out, free from scabbard’s restraint. …
A Conversation With: Literary Critic and Novelist Shamsur Rahman Faruqi ♦ India’s literary establishment is abuzz about the recently published novel “The Mirror of Beauty,” a 984-page fictional account about the life and times of Wazir Khanam, the mother of the famed Urdu poet Daag Dehalvi, set mostly in Delhi and its environs during the …
