Himal Southasian
@himalmag.bsky.social
Southasia’s magazine of politics and culture. Get our newsletters in your inbox: bit.ly/HimalNewsletters
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Nepal’s K P Oli government has murdered 19 people
This story first appeared in Kalam Weekly. It has been republished with updates and edits. Monday, 8 September, started out optimistic. A Gen Z protest against
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"For many young #Nepalis, this was their first large-scale protest. They will never forget that the very first protest they led was met with a hail of bullets," writes Pranaya Rana
“She has left systems and institutions to other writers. Despite how stridently her words can fall on unwilling ears, there is rarely a totalising force to them.”
Rosie Roti on the memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/arundhati-roy-mother-mary-memoir
Rosie Roti on the memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/arundhati-roy-mother-mary-memoir
The memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy
ALMOST EVERY EDITOR of an English-language publication in India today grew up on British and American rock music from the 1960s and 70s. As a former member of t
www.himalmag.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:45 PM
“She has left systems and institutions to other writers. Despite how stridently her words can fall on unwilling ears, there is rarely a totalising force to them.”
Rosie Roti on the memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/arundhati-roy-mother-mary-memoir
Rosie Roti on the memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/arundhati-roy-mother-mary-memoir
The case that sparked #Malayalam cinema’s gender reckoning is back in the news with the acquittal of actor #Dileep. Revisit this conversation between Anna Vetticad and Nayantara Narayanan from Sep 2024. #Hemacommitteereport https://ow.ly/679t50XG85V
State of Southasia #09: Anna M M Vetticad on the gender reckoning in Malayalam cinema – and India’s film industries
Film journalist Anna Vetticad points out that sexual abuse, while horrific, is only a symptom of the larger systemic gender violations and imbalances in the Malayalam film industry, which needs structural change from the ground up.
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December 9, 2025 at 10:45 AM
The case that sparked #Malayalam cinema’s gender reckoning is back in the news with the acquittal of actor #Dileep. Revisit this conversation between Anna Vetticad and Nayantara Narayanan from Sep 2024. #Hemacommitteereport https://ow.ly/679t50XG85V
On this day in 2006: King Jigme Singye Wangchuck voluntarily abdicated the throne in #Bhutan in favor of forming a constitutional democracy. Read a 2005 piece by Prashant Jha about the proposal that anticipated this administrative shift. https://ow.ly/GNSY50XG63r
A constitutional order in Thimpu
For a country emerging from protectorate status during colonial times, and struggling to emerge from under the shadow of India in the modern era, what Bhutan ha
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December 9, 2025 at 7:30 AM
On this day in 2006: King Jigme Singye Wangchuck voluntarily abdicated the throne in #Bhutan in favor of forming a constitutional democracy. Read a 2005 piece by Prashant Jha about the proposal that anticipated this administrative shift. https://ow.ly/GNSY50XG63r
The 1975 landmark film #Sholay will be re-released in India's cinemas on Dec 12. Read Anna MM Vetticad's essay on how the film unwittingly underlines the degradation of India’s landscape and the representation of gender, caste and Muslims in Bollywood.
Fifty years on, Sholay’s triumphs and flaws echo through Hindi cinema and Indian society
“The moment you utter the ‘Sh’ of Sholay, every single scene from the film rolls out before your eyes,” Dharmendra, one of the stars of the cult Hindi classic,
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December 9, 2025 at 5:30 AM
The 1975 landmark film #Sholay will be re-released in India's cinemas on Dec 12. Read Anna MM Vetticad's essay on how the film unwittingly underlines the degradation of India’s landscape and the representation of gender, caste and Muslims in Bollywood.
"Sri Lankan citizens were quick to mobilise. Over the past few days, a slew of donation drives have been set up. These exist because government agencies have, in the past, been slow to sound alarms and respond to crises," Raisa Wickrematunge writes on #lkafloods
https://ow.ly/L9Tc50XG55L
https://ow.ly/L9Tc50XG55L
Cyclone Ditwah and Sri Lanka’s disastrous flood mismanagement
Cyclone Ditwah and Sri Lanka’s disastrous response
ow.ly
December 9, 2025 at 4:30 AM
"Sri Lankan citizens were quick to mobilise. Over the past few days, a slew of donation drives have been set up. These exist because government agencies have, in the past, been slow to sound alarms and respond to crises," Raisa Wickrematunge writes on #lkafloods
https://ow.ly/L9Tc50XG55L
https://ow.ly/L9Tc50XG55L
🎥 Only a few more hours to watch #lka shorts ‘The Tent’ and ‘the impossibility of leaving / the possibility of coming out’, as part of December 2025's edition of Screen Southasia. Watch the two doc shorts before they expire on December 9: bit.ly/ScreenSouthasia
December 8, 2025 at 3:50 PM
🎥 Only a few more hours to watch #lka shorts ‘The Tent’ and ‘the impossibility of leaving / the possibility of coming out’, as part of December 2025's edition of Screen Southasia. Watch the two doc shorts before they expire on December 9: bit.ly/ScreenSouthasia
🎙️The #RSS’s project of rewriting #India’s history “will intensify hatred against weaker sections of society, Muslims and Christians both,” activist Ram Puniyani says to Harsh Mander
Watch the final episode of Saffron Siege here: https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
Watch the final episode of Saffron Siege here: https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
December 8, 2025 at 10:40 AM
🎙️The #RSS’s project of rewriting #India’s history “will intensify hatred against weaker sections of society, Muslims and Christians both,” activist Ram Puniyani says to Harsh Mander
Watch the final episode of Saffron Siege here: https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
Watch the final episode of Saffron Siege here: https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
"Even prior to the cyclone, Malaiyaha Tamils faced poverty, food insecurity and discrimination. Their precarity will only deepen in the aftermath of #CycloneDitwah,"
Raisa Wickrematunge writes:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
Raisa Wickrematunge writes:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
Cyclone Ditwah and Sri Lanka’s disastrous flood mismanagement
Cyclone Ditwah and Sri Lanka’s disastrous response
www.himalmag.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:35 AM
"Even prior to the cyclone, Malaiyaha Tamils faced poverty, food insecurity and discrimination. Their precarity will only deepen in the aftermath of #CycloneDitwah,"
Raisa Wickrematunge writes:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
Raisa Wickrematunge writes:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
“‘It’s the end of ‘Mary Roy, who loved me enough to let me go’, but Arundhati Roy chooses not to substitute the elegance of that falsehood with some equally breathtaking claim.”
Rosie Roti reviews Mother Arundhati Roy’s 'Mary Comes To Me’:
https://ow.ly/ZWH850XFw8g
Rosie Roti reviews Mother Arundhati Roy’s 'Mary Comes To Me’:
https://ow.ly/ZWH850XFw8g
The memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy
ALMOST EVERY EDITOR of an English-language publication in India today grew up on British and American rock music from the 1960s and 70s. As a former member of t
ow.ly
December 8, 2025 at 5:15 AM
“‘It’s the end of ‘Mary Roy, who loved me enough to let me go’, but Arundhati Roy chooses not to substitute the elegance of that falsehood with some equally breathtaking claim.”
Rosie Roti reviews Mother Arundhati Roy’s 'Mary Comes To Me’:
https://ow.ly/ZWH850XFw8g
Rosie Roti reviews Mother Arundhati Roy’s 'Mary Comes To Me’:
https://ow.ly/ZWH850XFw8g
"#DDLJ and Animal are dissimilar, but the lesson here is that the arrival of the Rajs in politics, society and cinema is always a portent of the Ranvijays down the road," writes Anna M M Vetticad
https://www.himalmag.com/culture/ddlj-shah-rukh-khan-kajol-hindutva-patriarchy
https://www.himalmag.com/culture/ddlj-shah-rukh-khan-kajol-hindutva-patriarchy
DDLJ’s dubious 30-year legacy of soft-pedalled patriarchy
IF THERE HAD been no Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), there may have been no Animal. Both Hindi films – DDLJ released in 1995, Animal in 2023 – earned record
www.himalmag.com
December 7, 2025 at 12:45 PM
"#DDLJ and Animal are dissimilar, but the lesson here is that the arrival of the Rajs in politics, society and cinema is always a portent of the Ranvijays down the road," writes Anna M M Vetticad
https://www.himalmag.com/culture/ddlj-shah-rukh-khan-kajol-hindutva-patriarchy
https://www.himalmag.com/culture/ddlj-shah-rukh-khan-kajol-hindutva-patriarchy
‘Flash’ disasters such as the rare band of cyclones seen across South and Southeast Asia in the past week are growing increasingly common due to warming seas caused by continued fossil-fuel burning."
Subscribe to Southasia Weekly: https://ow.ly/Ln0x50XCBUT
Subscribe to Southasia Weekly: https://ow.ly/Ln0x50XCBUT
December 7, 2025 at 9:55 AM
‘Flash’ disasters such as the rare band of cyclones seen across South and Southeast Asia in the past week are growing increasingly common due to warming seas caused by continued fossil-fuel burning."
Subscribe to Southasia Weekly: https://ow.ly/Ln0x50XCBUT
Subscribe to Southasia Weekly: https://ow.ly/Ln0x50XCBUT
ICYMI: sharing our December 2025 virtual cover, dedicated to a renowned Indian writer. Read the update by Himal EIC Roman Gautam
https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/arundhati-roy-virtual-cover-december
https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/arundhati-roy-virtual-cover-december
🎩🥻Arundhati Roy in fact and fiction – Himal Virtual Cover, December 2025
Dear reader,Mother Mary Comes To Me, Arundhati Roy’s long-awaited memoir, is an intimate exploration of love, loss and the mercurial bond between a daughter and
www.himalmag.com
December 7, 2025 at 7:25 AM
ICYMI: sharing our December 2025 virtual cover, dedicated to a renowned Indian writer. Read the update by Himal EIC Roman Gautam
https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/arundhati-roy-virtual-cover-december
https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/arundhati-roy-virtual-cover-december
"#Cyclone Ditwah has wrought havoc in the areas where the country’s most vulnerable live. On 3 December, the government declared 22 out of 25 districts as 'national disaster areas'," Raisa Wickrematunge writes
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
Cyclone Ditwah and Sri Lanka’s disastrous flood mismanagement
Cyclone Ditwah and Sri Lanka’s disastrous response
www.himalmag.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:10 PM
"#Cyclone Ditwah has wrought havoc in the areas where the country’s most vulnerable live. On 3 December, the government declared 22 out of 25 districts as 'national disaster areas'," Raisa Wickrematunge writes
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
“A mother might make it easier to belong to this world, not harder. She might claim you. She might be claimed by others. Even if Mother India never loves you back, other Indians will.”
Rosie Roti reviews Arundhati Roy’s 'Mother Mary Comes To Me’:
https://ow.ly/qrBj50XCAUE
Rosie Roti reviews Arundhati Roy’s 'Mother Mary Comes To Me’:
https://ow.ly/qrBj50XCAUE
December 6, 2025 at 1:25 PM
“A mother might make it easier to belong to this world, not harder. She might claim you. She might be claimed by others. Even if Mother India never loves you back, other Indians will.”
Rosie Roti reviews Arundhati Roy’s 'Mother Mary Comes To Me’:
https://ow.ly/qrBj50XCAUE
Rosie Roti reviews Arundhati Roy’s 'Mother Mary Comes To Me’:
https://ow.ly/qrBj50XCAUE
🎥 Only a few more days to watch #lka shorts ‘The Tent’ and ‘the impossibility of leaving / the possibility of coming out’, which meditate on the legacies of unreconciled conflict and ecological disaster in Sri Lanka.
Check out the films before they expire on December 8: bit.ly/ScreenSouthasia
Check out the films before they expire on December 8: bit.ly/ScreenSouthasia
December 6, 2025 at 9:55 AM
🎥 Only a few more days to watch #lka shorts ‘The Tent’ and ‘the impossibility of leaving / the possibility of coming out’, which meditate on the legacies of unreconciled conflict and ecological disaster in Sri Lanka.
Check out the films before they expire on December 8: bit.ly/ScreenSouthasia
Check out the films before they expire on December 8: bit.ly/ScreenSouthasia
Dharavi, Mumbai, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh or Orangi Town, Karachi? Guess where this photo was taken with this week's edition of Snap Southasia. Subscribe:
bit.ly/HimalNewsletter
bit.ly/HimalNewsletter
December 6, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Dharavi, Mumbai, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh or Orangi Town, Karachi? Guess where this photo was taken with this week's edition of Snap Southasia. Subscribe:
bit.ly/HimalNewsletter
bit.ly/HimalNewsletter
The death toll from #CycloneDitwah which caused widespread flooding and landslides in Sri Lanka (#lka) has reached 486 as of 5 December, while four people in Tamil Nadu died due to rain-related incidents over the past week
Read the full story with Southasia weekly: https://ow.ly/a1uI50XCBQF
Read the full story with Southasia weekly: https://ow.ly/a1uI50XCBQF
December 5, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The death toll from #CycloneDitwah which caused widespread flooding and landslides in Sri Lanka (#lka) has reached 486 as of 5 December, while four people in Tamil Nadu died due to rain-related incidents over the past week
Read the full story with Southasia weekly: https://ow.ly/a1uI50XCBQF
Read the full story with Southasia weekly: https://ow.ly/a1uI50XCBQF
Professor Hany Babu has been granted bail after serving five years of pre-trial incarceration for the #BhimaKoregaon case. For more information about the #BK16 and their slow journey to justice, revisit a podcast episode with Alpa Shah from April:
https://ow.ly/rR8X50XCAya
https://ow.ly/rR8X50XCAya
December 5, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Professor Hany Babu has been granted bail after serving five years of pre-trial incarceration for the #BhimaKoregaon case. For more information about the #BK16 and their slow journey to justice, revisit a podcast episode with Alpa Shah from April:
https://ow.ly/rR8X50XCAya
https://ow.ly/rR8X50XCAya
"Caste identity is made audible even in routine daily interactions. Language also acts as a marker of social aspiration and mobility," Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस writes about #caste and #language in #Southasia
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/language-caste-india-hindi-tamil-kannada
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/language-caste-india-hindi-tamil-kannada
How caste pervades Southasian languages
How caste pervades Southasian languages
www.himalmag.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:15 AM
"Caste identity is made audible even in routine daily interactions. Language also acts as a marker of social aspiration and mobility," Abhishek Avtans अभिषेक अवतंस writes about #caste and #language in #Southasia
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/language-caste-india-hindi-tamil-kannada
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/language-caste-india-hindi-tamil-kannada
Over a million people have been impacted by flooding and landslides wrought by Cyclone Ditwah. Despite early warnings, the Sri Lankan government was unprepared to respond in a crisis.
@raisalw.bsky.social writes https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
@raisalw.bsky.social writes https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
December 4, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Over a million people have been impacted by flooding and landslides wrought by Cyclone Ditwah. Despite early warnings, the Sri Lankan government was unprepared to respond in a crisis.
@raisalw.bsky.social writes https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
@raisalw.bsky.social writes https://www.himalmag.com/politics/sri-lanka-cyclone-ditwah-floods-landslides
🎙️“The #RSS began with two things: the glorification of traditional Brahminical values and stories constructed around the evil characters of Muslims first, and later Christians,” Ram Puniyani says to Harsh Mander
https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
December 4, 2025 at 11:50 AM
🎙️“The #RSS began with two things: the glorification of traditional Brahminical values and stories constructed around the evil characters of Muslims first, and later Christians,” Ram Puniyani says to Harsh Mander
https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
“‘Mother Mary’ brings to life a private history that Arundhati Roy has already drawn on, sometimes to
transcendent effect, in her fiction.”
Rosie Roti on the memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy:
transcendent effect, in her fiction.”
Rosie Roti on the memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy:
December 4, 2025 at 4:45 AM
“‘Mother Mary’ brings to life a private history that Arundhati Roy has already drawn on, sometimes to
transcendent effect, in her fiction.”
Rosie Roti on the memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy:
transcendent effect, in her fiction.”
Rosie Roti on the memoir that changes how we read Arundhati Roy:
🎙️On the final episode of Saffron Siege: "The #RSS’s ideology is based on feudal values in modern form – birth-based unshakable hierarchies of caste and gender," Ram Puniyani tells Harsh Mander
https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
December 3, 2025 at 3:35 PM
🎙️On the final episode of Saffron Siege: "The #RSS’s ideology is based on feudal values in modern form – birth-based unshakable hierarchies of caste and gender," Ram Puniyani tells Harsh Mander
https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
https://youtu.be/orGOdfpGFxo
The Indian telecoms industry's recent move to require a pre-installation of a cyber safety app on all new devices raises concerns about surveillance. Revisit a 2020 interview with IT specialist Anita Gurumurthy about the vulnerability of user data at the hands of the state:
https://ow.ly/eop050XB5BJ
https://ow.ly/eop050XB5BJ
Between big data and big brother
Since at least 2012, tech firms have consistently topped the list of companies in terms of market capitalisation, indicating the enormous financial power that t
ow.ly
December 3, 2025 at 9:45 AM
The Indian telecoms industry's recent move to require a pre-installation of a cyber safety app on all new devices raises concerns about surveillance. Revisit a 2020 interview with IT specialist Anita Gurumurthy about the vulnerability of user data at the hands of the state:
https://ow.ly/eop050XB5BJ
https://ow.ly/eop050XB5BJ
‘Mother Mary Comes To Me’, #ArundhatiRoy ’s memoir of love, loyalty and the larger-than-life Mrs Roy, puts into perspective a whole career of writing about the problem of belonging.
A review essay by Rosie Roti:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/arundhati-roy-mother-mary-memoir
A review essay by Rosie Roti:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/arundhati-roy-mother-mary-memoir
December 2, 2025 at 4:50 AM
‘Mother Mary Comes To Me’, #ArundhatiRoy ’s memoir of love, loyalty and the larger-than-life Mrs Roy, puts into perspective a whole career of writing about the problem of belonging.
A review essay by Rosie Roti:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/arundhati-roy-mother-mary-memoir
A review essay by Rosie Roti:
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/arundhati-roy-mother-mary-memoir