Lockdown Diaries: Reflections of an Oxford shut-in
Something lockdown has given us all, in perhaps more quantities than we know how to deal with, is time. And as I find myself currently living alone, with my housemates having returned to their family homes, I have had all that time to myself. I had expected this to attract some sympathy - but the more sympathy I received,...
Raja Bro to screen at Bangalore Queer Film Festival
Raja Bro25 mins | Documentary Short | IndiaDirector: Sridhar Rangayan Kashish's festival director, Sridhar Rangayan, is taking his short documentary Raja Bro to the Bangalore Queer Film Festival which runs 4-6 August 2023. Click here for more information about the film festival. Raja Bro, also known as Raja Bhau in its original Marathi title, is a short documentary film about a...
KASHISH 2023 to open with Onir’s feature Pine Cone
South Asia's biggest LGBTQ+ Film Festival to close with Canadian film When Time Got Louder The 14th edition of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, South Asia's biggest LGBTQ+ film festival will open on June 7th at Liberty Cinema with filmmaker Onir’s latest film Pine Cone, which will have its World Premiere at the festival. National Award winning filmmaker Onir said,...
Lockdown Diaries: Teenager Jai Aswani on a mission to feed the hungry in India by collecting 100 tonnes of food grains
Our initiative Mission 100 Tonnes was born out of distress calls we received from old age homes, orphanages, and pet shelters in Chennai, during the government-imposed lockdown in India three weeks back. Since then, there has been no looking back for us. The number of marginalised people requiring help during the unprecedented time of the COVID-19 outbreak has increased...
Lockdown Diaries: Bamboo House India supports waste pickers, daily wage earners with continued livelihood and aid
'My Waste, My Responsibility' is the mantra followed by Hyderabad-based social enterprise Bamboo House, India. Prashant Lingam, who co-founded the initiative along with his wife Aruna Kappagantula in 2006, moved from making eco-friendly bamboo homes to recycled eco-friendly plastic homes, plastic paver titles and kiosks for street vendors, using tonnes of used plastic garbage that would otherwise end up...
Satyameva Jayate, Laissez-aller and India
When distant memories have crystallised in time, frozen, a story can begin. When the whiffs of half-forgotten glories rustle through the leaves of the Tree of Life, say the Kalpavriksha or Shajarat al-Kholoud or Etz Chaim, the poetry of existence commences. Tales and bardic narrations that trip and traipse and wander around, as if in a stupor, in the by-lanes...
ONE WORLD International Queer Film Festival to showcase the best of American queer films online
The inaugural edition of ONE WORLD International Queer Film Festival (Virtual) that showcases the best of American queer cinema, will be held from June 18 - 20, 2021. The festival is organized by India's oldest LGBTQ+ organization, The Humsafar Trust, in collaboration with KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival and is supported by the U.S. Consulate General Mumbai. You...
Short story: “Swan song”
The phone rings rudely and raucously, rousing me from my restful slumber at the unearthly hour of 4 by my bedside alarm clock. I reach for it irritably, then pause. It can only be her. No one else would ever call me at this hour. Yet it cannot possibly be her. She has been gone from my life for over...
Lockdown diaries: Think local, think community, support small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic
I live in London and have done all my life. It’s a bustling and busy City with a population of 8 million. You see people everywhere. Hustling. Shuffling. Rushing from here to there. This year, we became accustomed to phrases like lock down, self-isolate, global pandemic, social distancing, wash your hands, wear a mask, Zoom, ‘You’re on mute’, and...
US right-wing QAnon conspiracy theories morph after spreading to India
Conspiracy theorists in India are seizing the opportunity to co-opt what in the Western world is better known as the QAnon conspiracy theory. Before his Twitter account was suspended, Indian lawyer Vibhor Anand published some big “revelations” to his 87k followers. Anand shared a tweet with pictures of Bollywood stars Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandes, as well as members...
