The Birth of Kali is a refreshing retelling of popular Hindu myths. Anita Sivakumaran overturns the tales we’ve grown up hearing and lets the women do the telling.  In “Nandi’s Pain” it is Brahma impregnating Nandi the bull in an alternate ‘creation story’. An extract: In the beginning, all is pristine. On a sterile cloud rests […]

“But even the invaders recognized that Chand Bibi was a worthy foe, one who deserved only acclaim,” writes Manu S. Pillai in his book ‘Rebel Sultans’. An extract: When Ali Adil Shah was murdered in 1580, Chand Bibi proved herself more than just his widow. Described as ‘one of the greatest women that India has produced’, […]

Ahead of the release of her debut novel, Love Is Never Easy, Donna Dias Manuel talks about what inspired her to don the author’s hat… For a long time, for me, writing was a private indulgence. I dabbled in poetry in high school, when I was trying to navigate those hard-to-explain-myself years; left a few short […]

Trisha Bora’s debut novel What Kitty Did is at once funny and romantic while also being a murder mystery. Journalist Kitty Bora’s love life seems irredeemable and so does her paycheck, but the news of a diplomat’s celebrity wife’s death suddenly gives her the possible chance to dig deeper and maybe even get a promotion […]