Blakwall

Post 2014, after Bhartiya Janata Party took center-stage in India, the India-United States relations saw a few surprising turns. One of those was the then US President Barack Obama’s invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is important here to note that PM Modi had been barred from entering the country over U.S. concerns about the 2002 massacre of Muslims in the state of Gujarat, which occurred when Modi was the state’s chief minister. Until the US Presidential elections in 2016 which led to Donald Trump being elected as the 58th President of America, the Indo-American relations under PM Modi and Obama saw some milestones. On his first visit as the Prime Minister of India, Modi met a huge crowd at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It was during this visit that PM Modi and President Obama reach agreement on a memorandum of understanding between the Export-Import Bank and an Indian energy agency, which provided up to $1 billion to help India develop low-carbon energy

When we talk about Television or any media and propaganda, Joseph Goebbels is perhaps the most infamous name that comes to mind. The Reich Minister of Propaganda used his position to influence newspapers, theatres, art galleries, radio broadcasts and the cinema. His vision was that of an empire that would control schools, universities, film, radio and television. He wrote, “The national education of the German people will be placed in my hands.” His mission to sell Nazi ideology was a success Goebbels started the work for Adolf Hitler to control the German people. Even after this death, Goebbels remains a shadow behind the workings of media, be it TV, newspapers or social media. One other name associated with Nazi propaganda in media is the German film director and actress, Leni Riefenstahl.  Although she went onto deny her Nazi connections and feigned ignorance of Hitler’s atrocities on the Jews, her contribution to Nazi propaganda cannot be forgotten. She was famous for t

White Chrysanthemum is the story of two Korean sisters- Hana and Emi, separated by the second world war. Hana is dragged away by a Japanese soldier to a life of sexual slavery while Emi is left to grow up in war ravaged times. The book is divided into two narratives- Hana’s narrative covers the war years, while in Emi’s chapters it is 2011, and the elderly Emi is still looking for her sister. The sisters are part of the haenyeo community, female sea divers. The book is an account not of war but how war affects people, how wars bring out the worst in men. It isn't an easy book and I found myself crying a lot over the days it took me to go through it. It is an immensely well told testimony of the brutalities of war and it has attempted to recognise the plight of the comfort women, who are yet to receive an apology for the atrocities committed on them. The characters are fictional but the truth it has attempted to show needs to be recognised, so we do not end up denying or

Murder in Mahim was a quick and interesting read. Although it is a crime novel in a general sense, but it could very well serve as a viewing window for the dark underbelly of Mumbai's gay scene. This book reminds me of another book I had the chance to read, The Boyfriend by R. Raj Rao. Both books dealt with the role of casteism and sex. Murder in Mahim starts with the discovery of the body of a boy called Proxy, in the loo of a train station that is known to be frequented by gay men. Bodies follow in a quick succession and the two people at the centre of it, Inspector Jende and retired journalist Peter "Pittr" Dsouza are nowhere close to solving it. It is a proper muder mystery book, with all the gore and blood. The narrative is fast paced and in the process of going through it, you might end up guessing some of the plot points( it isn't a bummer, though!). But it isn't just the murder at the centrefold. The chaos surrounding the characters take up as

Growing up, I've listened to my mother read out stories and folk lore about gods and goddesses as prayers. As a kid, these stories enthralled me and I'd listen to them with rapt attention. One such story was that of Devi Manasha and Behula. And it is one of those stories that form the backdrop of Amitav Ghosh's new novel Gun Island. Based on the legend of the Bonduki Saudagar and Devi Manasha, the book is set years after the end of Ghosh's previous book, The Hungry Tide. While in The Hungry Tide, Ghosh took us on a journey of the beautifully dangerous waters and jungles of the Sunderbans, in Gun Island, he takes us from the waters of Sundarbans to Venice and then further out to the ocean. Dinanath Dutta or Deen, the rare books dealer, Cinta, the Venetian historian and Piya, the marine biologist from the previous book form the pillars of Gun Island. Fakir's son, Tipu and Rafi, one of the last descendents of the entrusted caretaker of the shrine of the god

T en years have passed since Roshan Kalra started the Raasta café. Radha and Armaan, moved by his newfound passion and dedication towards them and cooking, decided to stay back, even though Radha had said it wasn’t a hot idea. She eventually gave in to Roshan’s killer moves on the dance floor and in the kitchen and got back together    with him, much to the delight of Armaan, Nazrul and Alex and much to the dismay of Biju. Biju was devastated. He was all set to propose to Radha when she dropped the R bomb on him. Heartbroken, he took out his 1960 Impala on a ride which unfortunately broke down in the middle of the road. Finding no option, he started walking/running towards the next town and realized he was a pretty decent runner and took to marathon running where he met his 23 year old girlfriend and went off to Oslo for their pre-wedding trip. Roshan K moved to his childhood home in Chandni Chowk with his family and father, and his son Armaan, infused with the love of cook