Reboot

Image taken by the German anthropologist Egon Von Eickstedt, from his studies in South India, Kerela. I recently came across an Instagram page called Chamar Studio. The name felt uncomfortably familiar to my Indian ears. The word “Chamar” is a derogatory term in India, historically used to refer to a community of leather workers within the broader Dalit community, considered “lower caste” under the old and flawed Indian caste system. Naturally, I was curious to see what this

Photo by Raghu Rai We all know Satyajit Ray for his monumental contributions to global independent cinema. Many of us first encountered him through The Apu Trilogy , a tender, three-part coming-of-age story tracing Apu’s journey through childhood, education, and early adulthood. Ray had an extraordinary ability to uncover deeply nuanced stories hidden within the everyday rhythms of newly independent India. His gaze was patient, observant, and humane. But today, I do not want

Sometimes certain things become totems. You do not realize when you start placing emotions onto things. For some, it’s a stone they collected from a beach they visited years ago with their family. For others, it might be a piece of tissue paper from a café where they had their first date. You would be surprised by the things we give meaning to, and that is what makes us human. However weird something may be, we still keep it somewhere we can see it. Because it represents us.