Aruni Kashyap: Your novel Pages Stained with Blood is set during the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, after the killing of Indira Gandhi. Was that your first encouter with terror and brutality by people on fellow men? Indira Goswami: I had seen something more horrible than terrorism and rioting before the Sikh riots. I had seen […]

One day my friend Badri came over to my place. We’d been at school together and I hadn’t seen him for a long time. He looked rather shabby, his hair gone grey. His white shirt was muddy and there was a thick layer of dust on his shoes – God knew where he’d been. I […]

चेतना का प्रवाह गुरुवार की सुबह तक मैं इतना विचलित नहीं हुई थी. पिछली रात मैं एक मित्र के घर थी जब टीवी पर मैंने घायलों को स्ट्रेचर पर डाल, लोगों को इधर से उधर भागते देखा. पुलिस असहाय सी खड़ी थी, लोगों में दहशत व्याप्त थी, टीवी का उदघोषक उसी तरह की उत्तेजना के […]

पिछ्ले कुछ दिनों से हो रही उथल-पुथल समझने की कोशिश में बहुत दूर तक जाना पडा. ये नहीं कहता कि कुछ समझ पाया, लेकिन यादों से जुड के और कुछ नहीं तो एक पर्सपेक्टिव तो मिलता ही है. नाम काल्पनिक हैं, घटनाएँ करीब-करीब सच्ची हैं. 1 कमरे में एक अजीब सा एक्साईटमेंट था. कम से […]

आज का आतंकवाद अराजकतावाद, निषेधवाद या मतान्धता के परम्परागत इतिहास की पैदाईश नहीं है. इसकी बजाय वह भूमण्डलीकरण (Globalization) का समकालीन जोड़ीदार है. इसके मुख्य लक्षणों को पहचानने के लिए भूमण्डलीकरण, खासतौर से विशिष्ट (Singular) और वैश्विक (Universal) के साथ इसके रिश्ते की समकालीन वंशावली को सामने लाना जरूरी होगा. ‘भूमण्डलीय’ ‘वैश्विक’ के बीच समानता […]

A History of Violence A river flowed here When we reached the valley Carrying our gods On the strains of our songs. (Some gods were more enterprising: Khunlung and Khunlai climbed down on their own From heaven on a golden ladder) Our gods were good gods, free gods They mixed well, changed names, traded identities […]

The letter, awaited with such anxiety, reached them at last. Okon found the plain white envelope just inside the front door, lying innocently on the polished wooden floor as though it was an everyday missive, an invitation to a flower-show, perhaps, or a letter from a friend in the city. The night-chowkidars were questioned. They […]

My Deuta never wrote to me before. Or, precisely, Indian fathers usually don’t write letters to their sons. I don’t know if Manu made that law, as he made many laws for women. Our Jethai followed some of Manu’s laws carefully. She always wore white. Never stepped on the ground with bare feet during her […]

The special train left Amritsar at two in the afternoon and reached Mughalpura eight hours later. Many of the passengers were killed on the way, many were injured and a few were missing. When Sirajuddin opened his eyes the next morning, he found himself lying on the cold ground of a refugee camp. There was […]

They had returned to Amritsar from Lahore after seven-and-a-half years. The hockey match was only an excuse; they were more keen to see the houses and the bazaars, which they had known seven-and-a-half years ago and which now belonged to the strangers. Groups of Muslims could be seen strolling down every street of the city. […]