Sandip Roy
The writer is a novelist and the author of Don’t Let Him Know
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More From Sandip Roy
From Emergency to now, how censorship became a competitive sportSubscriber Only
June 26,2025 12:22:18 PM
Whether or not one has watched the film or read the book is immaterial, because it’s all about the political dividends that “being offended” can yield
Thu, Jun 26, 2025
Trump-Musk bromance is over. What does it say about male friendships?Subscriber Only
June 09,2025 17:40:44 PM
Trump seems to have neither permanent friends nor enemies. He befriends, unfriends and re-friends at will
Mon, Jun 09, 2025
When patriotism becomes a food fight: The tragicomedy of Mysore shreeSubscriber Only
May 26,2025 15:47:33 PM
Tyohaar Sweets in Jaipur has decided that it will show its patriotism by renaming Moti pak and Mysore pak. But words actually have meanings and that does not change just because it sounds like a word we do not like
Wed, May 28, 2025
In one stroke, Trump has effectively deleted transgender people from his AmericaSubscriber Only
January 22,2025 07:12:56 AM
Trump understands that as humans we find the predictability of binary much safer than the non-binary
Wed, Jan 22, 2025
From One Nation One Election to ‘Ek hain to safe hain’, what drives India’s search for the one and onlySubscriber Only
December 30,2024 13:17:31 PM
The messiness of true diversity is hard for most of us to digest. It’s far easier to rally the troops behind the idea of The Chosen One, to regard diversity as something distracting, even dangerous.
Mon, Dec 30, 2024
Why author Sandip Roy thinks Disco Dancer Mithun Chakraborty, who has been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, has got the movesSubscriber Only
October 05,2024 10:00:49 AM
Common people saw him as their own and politicians wanted him on their side but all his life he battled a certain snobbery. Now with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Mithun Chakraborty is finally in a class of his own
Mon, Oct 07, 2024
A streetcar named nostalgia: It’s the end of the track for Kolkata’s tramsSubscriber Only
October 02,2024 11:20:27 AM
Inertia, strong unions and sentiment might have inadvertently saved Kolkata’s trams when other cities got rid of them. A smarter government could have built on that happenstance to make them part of a blueprint for a greener future
Sat, Oct 05, 2024
Abhaya. Nirbhaya. Tilottama. Damini. Amanat: What the names given to rape victims say about usSubscriber Only
September 10,2024 11:55:21 AM
Perhaps naming these victims Abhaya and Nirbhaya allows us to not introspect about how we as a society failed them. The names we choose say more about what we retroactively project on to them rather than the reason they need these aliases in the first place
Tue, Sep 10, 2024
In pre-liberalisation India, Camlin delivered a quiet reassurance about India’s own capabilitySubscriber Only
July 23,2024 13:05:37 PM
It was not about any manufactured made-in-India nationalism. The allure of the foreign still ran strong. But there was something solid and dependable about it that made it a stalwart.
Thu, Jul 25, 2024
To say the world only became curious about Gandhi after Richard Attenborough’s film is sheer ‘mann ki baat’, not factSubscriber Only
May 31,2024 15:08:13 PM
Certainly ‘Gandhi’ and its eight Oscars made Mahatma Gandhi part of international pop culture’s mainstream. But if there is anything India managed to export successfully to the world, even before 1982, other than curry and yoga, it’s undoubtedly Mahatma Gandhi
Mon, Jun 03, 2024
Jay Shetty and the allure of self-help gurus: The promise of a Better Us, the lies we tell ourselvesSubscriber Only
March 09,2024 12:44:36 PM
The irony is that self-help is predicated on a firm belief in individualism. But the guru promises that each of us can become like him or her if we only follow their course, no matter how different we are as individuals
Wed, Mar 13, 2024
‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry’s troubled life and the anonymity he craved — and never gotSubscriber Only
October 29,2023 17:07:25 PM
At its best, ‘Friends’ despite its comedy, filled some essentially lonely corner in our lives. But Perry’s troubled life, during ‘Friends’ and after, reminded us that it was, in the end, all make-believe
Tue, Oct 31, 2023
With Chandrayaan-3, a look at Indians’ waxing and waning relationship with the MoonSubscriber Only
August 25,2023 07:07:01 AM
The Moon, as it changes shape and size, offers more nuance and thus more literary possibility. There is a phase of the Moon to suit every mood so much so that Gulzar once joked he had a copyright on the Moon given the number of poems he had written about it
Fri, Aug 25, 2023
Memories of Tina Turner, who shattered stereotypesSubscriber Only
May 25,2023 17:21:53 PM
Loving Turner felt almost like an act of rebellion in our 'bhadralok' society
Thu, May 25, 2023
The return of Campa Cola: From bottled nationalism to bottled nostalgiaSubscriber Only
March 11,2023 16:23:05 PM
In 1977, Campa Cola was a substitute for Coca-Cola, not a competitor. Now it will have to compete cola-to-cola
Sat, Mar 11, 2023
How our consumption of Durga Puja has changed over the yearsSubscriber Only
October 01,2022 12:30:07 PM
Durga Puja had always been a festival of homecoming, centred on the deity herself. Now, it has become a way of seeing and situating ourselves in the world
Sun, Oct 02, 2022
A touch of the vintage, a taste of the modern: making new memories in familiar old ShillongSubscriber Only
May 01,2022 06:20:32 AM
A writer in search of the nostalgic pineapple soufflé of his childhood in the Meghalayan capital returns with local lore and fresh food memories instead
Sun, May 01, 2022
Wodehouse runs into Heavy WeatherSubscriber Only
April 10,2022 03:50:10 AM
Sandip Roy writes: Wodehouse's enduring appeal to Indians can feel like a mysterious colonial hangover.
Sun, Apr 10, 2022
The charm of Bappi LahiriSubscriber Only
February 16,2022 04:10:02 AM
Sandip Roy writes: Bappi Lahiri's music, gold jewellery and over-the-top persona made our lives a little less dull.
Thu, Feb 17, 2022
The tales that provide a theme for a dream in San FranciscoSubscriber Only
December 15,2019 08:15:05 AM
San Francisco’s captivating charm lay in those picture-postcard views. But its magnetic allure lay in its attitude.
Sun, Dec 15, 2019
What made Tintin the ultimate fantasy for generations and his greatest gift to usSubscriber Only
January 20,2019 06:00:34 AM
It’s inevitable that Tintin at 90 will show his wrinkles and warts. But the boy-man always ready to take off on an adventure remains a dream of ageless freedom and undying friendship.
Sun, Jan 20, 2019
San Francisco, the city of limitless possibilitiesSubscriber Only
December 16,2018 06:00:15 AM
San Francisco is the place where tides from different worlds collide in unexpected ways, opening up unimagined possibilities.
Sun, Dec 16, 2018
Author Sandip Roy asks, ‘You don’t hurt anyone by loving someone, no?’Subscriber Only
September 09,2018 00:26:30 AM
With the Supreme Court reading down Section 377 to decriminalise homosexuality, the journey of a “Good Bengali Boy” and his early struggles with his sexual identity to a time when he finds he is “no longer alone”
Sun, Sep 09, 2018
Another Day in Paradise: Exploring the charm of island vacations and need for pragmatic tourismSubscriber Only
May 20,2018 00:03:45 AM
Powder-white sand, crystal clear water and lush foliage — islands are the idyll that all travellers dream of. However, in picture-perfect Tahiti, Bali, Maldives or Hawaii, it’s easy to forget that some of the very things that make islands so beautiful also render them utterly vulnerable. We explore the charm of island vacations, but also the urgent need for pragmatic tourism.
Sun, May 20, 2018
Lenin Babu Still Lives in DharmatalaSubscriber Only
March 11,2018 16:37:37 PM
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was once everywhere in Kolkata. And his bounty was not just revolution.
Sun, Mar 11, 2018a better experience