As the nation remembers and salutes its 527 brave officers and soldiers who were martyred in the Kargil war, immortalized on war memorials with their names etched forever in pride on our hearts and soul, I am reminded of another soldier, another mother, and another country! When the Kargil war broke out on the steep, icy and rugged slopes of the Himalayas, I as a Brigadier found myself stationed as the Defence Advisor to the High Commission of India in London, UK. I had till then (and afterwards…

QUEST FOR THE WEST – AN ESSAY ON MIGRATION DUE TO AMBITION Author: Sanchaiyata Majumdar Author intro: Ms Sanchaiyata Majumdar is currently working as an Assistant Professor of English at Garden City University, Bangalore. She completed her graduation from one of the prestigious colleges in India, Bethune College, Kolkata in English Literature, and her post-graduation in English Literature from University of Calcutta ranking within top ten positions in her class. In 2017, she successfully complet…

“Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools.” This quotation from Salman Rushdie reveals much about the ambiguous condition of the diasporic people. The term diaspora, which was once an object of suspicion, has now become one of fascination. Once it was historically and politically a loaded concept, today it is not only an impartial term but also an all embracing one for the erstwhile terms like immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, guest worker…

ADNAN Author: Samina Hadi-Tabassum Author intro: Samina Hadi-Tabassum is an associate professor at Erikson Institute in Chicago where she teaches courses in child development. Her first book of poems, Muslim Melancholia (2017), was published by Red Mountain Press. She has published poems in East Lit Journal, Soul-Lit, Journal of Postcolonial Literature, Papercuts, The Waggle, Indian Review, Classical Poets, Mosaic, Main Street Rag, Connecticut River Review, Pilgrimage Literary Journal, Riksha, C…

I was vibrant 17 years old then, a second year student of graduation in City College, Calcutta. Those days it was Calcutta in English, and Kolkata in Bengali. It took them a few more decades to still feel enslaved by the British name of an Indian city, offensively carried forward; it was corrected thereafter and Bengal office-bearers finally felt proud that the state had conclusively come out of the British shadows. At 12 midnight, not a single soul slept. Pt. Nehru’s voice beamed from the other…

I find myself more religious whenever I am by myself, away from my family and out of my country. I tend to be more conscious of following certain rituals, offering namaaz on time, dressing more modestly and conducting myself in a manner that will make my parents proud. All of a sudden, I become that ‘Tall Indian Muslim girl’ wherever I go. (I can’t help the tall part though.) And that’s why I try my best to be a good representative of my religion and my country too. So you can imagine the slight…

Nashra Ahmed looked scared like a cat drenched in cold water. Her video message apologizing for her 'actions' may not have placated the Mullahs who are the thekedaars of Islam, but it surely filled me with an immense feeling of being violated. Only a couple of months back, I was filled with rage at the manner in which AMU students were beaten up by Police while the RSS goons basked in self righteous nationalistic glory. Nashra had posted a video of the girl students of Abdullah Girls hostel a…