Sumit Sarkar, one of India’s most reputed historians of modern times, talks of breaking the mould NB: Sumit Sarkar was a stalwart of historical scholarship and a great teacher. Hundreds of students have sat in his classes and learned at his feet. I am grateful to have been one of them, in my MA days… Read More Sumit Sarkar (1939-2026): A historian muses on forty years of scholarship
We have just learned of the passing on August 9th of Mariéme Helie-Lucas, an Algerian sociologist and feminist activist committed to secularism for decades. Mariéme was certainly better known in the English-speaking world than in the French-speaking world. As a tribute, we are reproducing the post written by her friend Harsh Kapoor. My former partner,… Read More Marième / Marie-Aimée Helie-Lucas (1939-2026)
The life of the hugely influential ‘people’s historian’ is explored in a wide-ranging new book that brings in everything from wars to civil rights to Matt Damon When times got tough for Zinn: “… he was able to live through these times when he was also able to lecture in the classroom, about all sorts… Read More The incredible life of historian Howard Zinn (1922-2010)
As the far right fulminates about who ‘belongs’ in Britain, let’s remember Fritz Lustig, who arrived here in 1939, just months before war broke out. Initially jailed as an ‘enemy alien’, he played a vital role in a top-secret military intelligence unit Robin Lustig When the Nazis came to power in Germany in January 1933, Fritz Lustig,… Read More My father, the German refugee who fought the Nazis as a ‘secret listener’
Apoorvanand “ Why did Muktibodh became uniquely significant in the summer of 1964? Why did …almost all the weeklies, monthlies and dailies started introducing him to their readers?” Fifty years ago, Shamsher Bahadur Singh, asked this question in the preface to Chand Ka Munh Tedha hai, the first anthology of poems of Muktibodh being compiled. Muktibodh then,… Read More Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh: Put fire back into firewood / The Ultimate expression: Muktibodh’s poem, “Andhere Mein”
The work of one of Italy’s greatest scholars focused on ordinary lives oppressed by power and prejudice. That approach resonates today Guardian Editorial Reflecting on the genesis of his most famous work, Carlo Ginzburg wrote that by immersing himself in the trial of a 16th-century miller burned by the Roman Inquisition, he turned a possible… Read More Carlo Ginzburg: a historian who taught us to think about outsiders
NB: The story of this remarkable man may also be read in Chapter 3, The Heart of the Heart, of Benjamin Labatut’s book When we Cease to understand the World; which is where I first read about hi. Alex Lebrun This is an English translation of a post written in French by my father Gérard Lebrun. The pages… Read More Alexander Grothendieck, the secret genius of mathematics
Let’s withdraw And meet the time as it seeks us: Shakespeare; Cymbeline Monju in Patparganj, Delhi, Winter 1995 Achintya Barua, known as Monju – or Manju – by his vast gathering of friends and accomplices passed away on May 17, 2026. Among the gang of dreamers from our college days six decades ago, he was… Read More Monju: spirit of the trees
A beautiful soul, forever with us Sun sets over Kaziranga Achintya (Monju) Barua, founder of Wild Grass resort Kaziranga; a devotee of wild life and natural conservation; known and loved by numberless people the world over passed away this morning, May 17. We had spoken over the phone at 7.50 am, he was coughing, and… Read More Achintya Barua (1953-2026)
A Tribute to India’s Military Children By Brig Advitya Madan (retd) Spice of Life: Military children bloom everywhere. They are hardy and upright. Their roots are strong. They are ready to fly in the breezes that take them to new adventures, new lands and new friends https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/a-salute-to-resilience-of-the-military-child-101650194056954.html ++++++++++++++++ Of Bagpipes, Horses and Golden Orioles (2008) Lt… Read More Like a Dandelion in the Wind
After the truth-shower 