March 2010

Cover

God and the gospel of globalisation

By: Meera Nanda

The complex nexus of market, religion and the state behind secularism's failure in the region.

Commentary

Piety and poverty

Dancing by the cliff

Aman and asha at home

'Resonance'

‘Resonance’: Himal’s commentary on work by artists with the Kasthamandap Art Studio in Kathmandu.

Analysis

1982 all over again

By: Rohini Hensman

Rajapakse's escalting authoritarianism invites comparions with J R Jayewardene

Writer's block

By: Bipin Adhikari

The hundred-day deadline has just passed for the promulgation of Nepal’s long-awaited new constitution. But there is little optimism that this date will be met.

Report

Tattered parachute

By: Aunohita Mojumdar

The internationals are preparing to bail out of Afghanistan, presenting impractical quick-fix solutions.

Battlefield city

By: Shamim-ur-Rahman

Internecine political battles are making Karachi a dangerous place to live

View from the cantonment

By: Kiyoko Ogura

The talk drags on in Kathmandu about integration, rehabilitation and the future of the Maoist combatants.

Essay

The vamshavali from Chamba

By: Romila Thapar

Reflections of a historical tradition

Beyond Indology

By: Ted Riccardi

The 18th-century ‘discovery’ by Western academics of Sanskrit allowed a whole new branch of science-minded researchers to delve into the mysteries of the Subcontinent.

Sighting

In light of Nalanda

By: Namit Arora

The ruins of one of Asia’s great centres of learning still inspire travellers

In defence of symbolism

By: Laxmi Murthy

What we celebrate when we mark 8 March

Time and a place

In remembrance of water

By: Hartman de Souza

Where there is water, there is probably ore beneath.

Profile

Arul Aunty

By: Niyanthini Kadirgamar & Ahilan Kadirgamar
The adversity and achievements of a Tamil woman over the course of a century-long life mirror the tragedy of the Sri Lankan north and its people.

Mail

Comments from readers

Southasian Briefs

Round-up of regional news

Review

His name is Khan!: 'My Name is Khan' directed by Karan Johar

By: S Bhaskar

My Name is Khan weaves a complex narrative which offers an alternative to the political Islam that is so problematic today.

Aside the chariot: 'The Hindus: An alternative history' by Wendy Doniger

By: Diwas Kc

Thousand faces: 'In Search of Sita' edited by Malashri Lal & Namita Gokhale

By: Sumana Roy

In Search of Sita offers differing takes on Sita and takes us through the evolutionary trajectory of her many interpreted lives.

Seeking seekers

By: Rukmini Krishnan

William Dalrymple offers a narrative of the journeys of nine spiritual seekers in India on their search for truth.

Strip off my words: 'Aria' poetry translated by Sudeep Sen

By: Rabindra K Swain

Translator-poet Sudeep Sen assembles a bewilderingly cosmopolitan collection of verse.

Mediafile

Tidbits of the region's media

Southasiasphere

Early afternoon sun

By: C K Lal

When the exhausted world is fast asleep
Then at the new-dusk of the New Year
We too shall celebrate
Our New Year
– Anant Bhatnagar in
“Hum bhi manayenge naya saal”

Reflections

Dagger-clawed little people

By: Richard Boyle

Did being an island help Sri Lanka evolve a particular type of hominid?

On the way up

Visiting the Mahatma

By: Kanak Mani Dixit

Bookshelf

Reviews of the latest books from and on Southasia

Voices

Opinions from around the region

Web Exclusive

New riverbed carved through Choglamsar

Where once stood houses by Dilip D’Souza

Ladakh after the flood.

The Kashmiri and the Indian – Shivam Vij writes about how (and why) people-to-people dialogue is the best way out of the Kashmir logjam.

.The battle for bauxite – Sudha Ramachandran writes about the Dongria Kondhs of southern Orissa who are up in arms on the grounds that their land, culture and way of life, their very survival as a distinct tribe, is under serious threat from UK mining giant Vedanta Resources.