TWO BILLION BEATS BY SONALI BHATTACHARYYA – REVIEW

By Ananya Wilson-Bhattacharya

The presence of South Asian characters in British theatre is not the extreme rarity it once was. Whilst South Asians and people of colour more widely are still hugely underrepresented in theatre – as actors, writers, directors and in storylines – there has undoubtedly been some progress in recent years. What remains less visible, however, is South Asian characters engaging in rich discussions of history in all its complexity, from a questioning, left-wing perspective. If this is not for you, you should probably avoid playwright and Momentum activist Sonali Bhattacharyya’s Two Billion Beats, showing now at London’s Orange Tree Theatre.

Continue Reading

LOVE AFTER BABEL AND OTHER POEMS – CHANDRAMOHAN S

By Ananya Wilson-Bhattacharya

The following was originally published as the afterword to the collection Love after Babel and Other Poems by Chandramohan S, published in January 2020 by Daraja Press. The collection won the Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista Outstanding Book Award in January of this year. You can order a copy direct from Daraja Press here.


They ask me why do you write poems?
I write poems – the people have the right to…bear arms.

These lines, taken from his one-stanza masterpiece ‘Why Do I Write Poetry?’, encapsulate the very essence of Chandramohan S’ approach to his craft in his third collection, Love after Babel and Other Poems. These poems are unapologetically weapons, fighting against the pre-modern notion of caste in all its insidious 21st century glory.

Continue Reading

UNITED WE STAND, IGNITED WE MARCH – NEW YOUTH POLITICS IN INDIA

by Scott McLaughlan

Politically engaged and youthful social movements of India’s marginalised and oppressed are coming together, under one umbrella, to demand social change with one voice. The situation on the ground has rattled India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

9th January 2018 12.00pm, Presidential Road, Delhi: Yuva Hunkaar Rally!

The slogan Yuva Hunkaar expresses a powerful agenda and a call to action. Yuva (meaning “youth”), attached to the term Hunkaar (roar/shout out/loud call) expresses a forceful, clarion call for social change. It’s a roar to action on issues of systemic discrimination against India’s marginalised and oppressed.Continue Reading

#STANDWITHJNU AND ITS RIPPLE EFFECTS

1

by Kunal Chattopadhyay

Seldom has an incident in an Indian University received so much international coverage and solidarity as the ongoing confrontation in Jawaharlal Nehru University. 450 scholars, among who were names like Noam Chomsky and Gilbert Achcar, as well as JNU alumni, signed a statement. 358 academics from Universities across California issued a letter in which they condemned the harassment of students for their political beliefs. The letter called the police crackdown on the students an “alibi for the incursion of an authoritarian regime onto the university campus”. Oxford University and the University of Chicago among others have sent in their support. Within India, solidarity actions developed in Delhi, Chennai, and various academic institutions, including notably Jadavpur University in Kolkata. And there have also been massive, unrelenting state and rightwing attacks, including physical violence.Continue Reading