Amrith Lal

Veteran Malayalam director KP Kumaran’s biopic celebrates the life and work of an exceptional poet and social reformer of the last century

His novel, Delhi: A Soliloquy, is a tribute to his years spent as a flaneur, chronicler in the city

The Adi Shankara story is a remarkable saga of travel and adventure, philosophical inquiry, conflicts in faith, exegesis, establishment of lineage, organisation and mobilisation, etc.

'A Red-necked Green Bird' turns the page on social cliches and individual histories

KK Shailaja’s removal from Pinarayi Vijayan ministry shows CPM and its supporters may be reading Kerala verdict differently

This green strand is a characteristic of a new Left in Kerala. A host of sitting legislators and candidates have been involved in projecting a green vision as part of their politics.

Vadakara has been a stronghold of socialists for decades, having elected stalwarts like K B Menon to Parliament.

Until recently, and for near five decades, politics in Tamil Nadu has revolved around three charismatic figures, who claimed the legacy of the Dravidian movement: DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi defined one pole of state politics while MGR and Jayalalithaa occupied the other end.

Jallikattu is a bull-taming sport that has traditionally been part of the festival of Pongal. However, the practice has long been contested, with animal rights groups and the courts concerned over issues of cruelty to animals and the bloody and dangerous nature of the sport.

With accolades and international recognition, the Tamil and Malayalam writer, respectively, hope for a more nuanced reading of their work

Tamil identity politics, now, is invoked by the Dravidian outfits mainly to mobilise people against national parties and the Centre as well as to paper over social and economic fault lines.

Erasing any of these strands or experiences — the anti-colonial impulse, religious content, agrarian moorings, police brutality — would result in an incomplete, lopsided picture of the event with potential for dangerous interpretations in our fraught present.

The Carnatic musician and author on the need for a programme similar to NREGA for the art community to help them tide over economic hardship due to COVID-19

The acclaimed writer in Hindi has witnessed and written about several riots, including Hashimpura massacre, in which 42 Muslims were killed by the police. He says that in all major riots, minorities had one common complaint — that the police had not done what it was supposed to do.

Till his last, Krishnan, who died in Delhi Sunday aged 87, remained partial to the depressed classes and worked towards the destruction of the caste order, relentlessly exposing its institutional manifestations.

Every regime insists that the praja, or citizens, stand by its regressions from the founding ideals of the republic in the name of nationalism.

The first Indian Express readers’ club session featured Tamil author Perumal Murugan who spoke of his humble beginnings, the politics of his work and the power of silence.

A collection of tales that dissects the inner life of Malayali society

Kamaraj Plan required top Congress leaders to quit govt and work for the organisation. Nearly six decades on, as the party seeks to manage another crisis and leadership transition, it has a blueprint to consider.

A defection is a betrayal of the mandate. Any shift in political affiliation would mean the right to represent the mandate is lost. Political morality demands that he resign his seat and seek re-election.

Chamarajanagar, a reserved seat, voted on April 18. It is considered a Congress seat and the sitting MP, R Dhruvanarayana, is credited for being accessible and undertaking development works.

The AIADMK has won Tiruppur since its inception. In 2014, the AIADMK front (including the AIADMK, DMDK and BJP) had polled over seven lakh votes.

Six decades after Kanyakumari — then part of the Travancore princely state — joined Tamil Nadu after the linguistic reorganisation, it continues to meld two linguistic and political cultures, making it an outlier in Tamil Nadu politics.

In the rural areas, Venkatesan the writer takes the backseat and more prosaic political agendas occupy his speeches.