Sarbpreet Singh: The Curious Connection Between Sikkim’s Lake Guru Dongmar & Guru Nanak

First posted on November 12, 2019 I am back in Gangtok after many years. As I grew up here, I call it home. During a whirlwind book tour in India to talk about my new book, The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia, I decided to take a few days off to go home. It is raining… Read More Sarbpreet Singh: The Curious Connection Between Sikkim’s Lake Guru Dongmar & Guru Nanak

Heda Margolius Kovaly (1919-2010) : Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague 1941–1968

First posted January 26, 2017 Three forces carved the landscape of my life. Two of them crushed half the world. The third was very small and weak and, actually, invisible. It was a shy little bird hidden in my rib cage an inch or two above my stomach. Sometimes in the most unexpected moments the… Read More Heda Margolius Kovaly (1919-2010) : Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague 1941–1968

Ann O’Loughlin – How the Trans-Siberian railway became the love train

First posted July 22, 2017 Ann O’Loughlin set off across the Soviet Union nearly 30 years ago, looking for adventure and a chance to practise her Russian. Instead, she met a fascinating stranger in a leather jacket in the next carriage … The Trans-Siberian railway, the greatest train journey in the world, is where our… Read More Ann O’Loughlin – How the Trans-Siberian railway became the love train

‘I longed for the moment you would write’: The Gulag penpals whose love lasted 60 years

Kasia Delgado First posted September 7, 2019 Vladimir was sentenced to 10 years’ hard labour. Ivanna was Prisoner 108, and his secret correspondent. She looks back on a love affair with a man she never met In 1953, a young Ivanna Maszczak trudged through the Siberian labour camp in which she was serving a 10-year… Read More ‘I longed for the moment you would write’: The Gulag penpals whose love lasted 60 years

Now Israel is Occupying the Hearts of Lovers in the Palestinian West Bank

JUAN COLE Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a creepy policy out of a Kafka or Joseph Heller novel, Israeli authorities have decreed that if a foreign visitor to the Palestinian West Bank develops a romantic relationship with a local Palestinian, they must report the relationship to the military Occupation authorities within 30 days. So reports the… Read More Now Israel is Occupying the Hearts of Lovers in the Palestinian West Bank

On the anniversary of partition, let’s consign the pitiless logic of Hindu v Muslim to the past

Pankaj Mishra and Ali Sethi In a remarkable document from the 13th century, a Sufi writer records his epiphany about the prophet Muhammad granting permission to music in India. Quoting an enigmatic utterance of the prophet (“I sense the breath of the Merciful coming from Yemen”), he speculates that the “Yemen” in question is not just the… Read More On the anniversary of partition, let’s consign the pitiless logic of Hindu v Muslim to the past

On the eve of 75th independence anniversary, peace pilgrims from Pune bring message of love to Pakistan

By Beena Sarwar and Priyanka Singh un ka jo farz hai wo ahl-e-siyasat jaanenmera paigham mohabbat hai jahan tak pahunche  Let politicians do what they think they mustMy message is that of love, let it reach where it can – Jigar Moradabadi On a muggy Friday afternoon three weeks ago, three men from Pune walked… Read More On the eve of 75th independence anniversary, peace pilgrims from Pune bring message of love to Pakistan