Book Review: Two and a Half Rivers by Anirudh Kala

Namrata reviews Anirudh Kala’s Two and a Half Rivers (Niyogi Books, 2021) and talks how Kala explores trauma and the long-lasting impact it has on the mental health of an individual through this book justifiably well.

ISBN ‏ : ‎ 978-9391125202
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Niyogi Books Pvt. Ltd.
Release Date: October 2021
Price: INR 395/-

The Partition changed a lot of things in many ways. It had different impacts on people living in different states, the impact of which we are still dealing with even after more than seven decades.

Two and a Half Rivers by Anirudh Kala is a story of insurgency in Punjab in the early 1980s. A state that derived its name from the five rivers that flowed through the state, was left with only two and a half rivers after the Partition. The title of the book derives its name from this fact. It further explores the connection between religion and terrorism. Author Anirudh Kala is a psychiatrist by profession. His experiences with patients living with mental health issues and their families are reflected in the way he carves his characters. This is his second book after Unsafe Asylum: Stories of Partition and Madness (2018).

Read the full review on Kitaab.

Movie Review: If by Tathagata Ghosh – A Tender Portrait of Love, Loss, and Possibility

If , a 26-minute short film by acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Tathagata Ghosh, is a sensitive, evocative piece of storytelling that lingers long after the credits roll. Set against the everyday rhythm of life in Kolkata, the film delicately unpacks the story of a lesbian couple torn apart by the weight of societal expectations and dares to imagine a different future, one where a mother's love might just change everything. What struck me first was the film’s raw, grounded realism. The characters feel like people we know, middle-class families navigating a complex world with quiet resilience. The world of If is filled with silences, glances, and stills, rather than heavy dialogue. Ghosh masterfully uses these moments to speak volumes, allowing viewers to sit with discomfort, interpret the unspoken, and feel deeply.

Book Review: The Story of Eve: Selected Poems by Zehra Nigah

Few voices in Urdu poetry have carried the weight of history, resistance, and deep personal introspection quite like Zehra Nigah. One of the first women to break into the traditionally male-dominated world of Urdu poetry, Nigah’s work stands as a testament to the power of words to illuminate, question, and challenge. The Story of Eve: Selected Poems, translated by Rakshanda Jalil, brings together some of her most powerful nazms and ghazals, showcasing both her literary elegance and her unflinching gaze at the human condition, particularly through the lens of gender, social injustice, and political turmoil.

The Urban Gaze : Reimagining the Village in Contemporary Indian Cinema

Indian cinema has long been fascinated with the village. From the earthy, socialist realism of Do Bigha Zamin (1953) to the melodramatic lament of Mother India (1957), the village once stood as both heartland and hinterland — a space of moral clarity, rustic struggle, and often unyielding fate. But as the urban middle class began to dominate cinematic production and consumption, the depiction of the village increasingly came to reflect an urban gaze, that is, a perspective shaped by distance, nostalgia, condescension, or even outright fantasy. In recent years, this urban gaze has taken on new shades, evident in the way mainstream and indie filmmakers alike have re-engaged with rural India. While some have tried to explore the village as a site of resistance, authenticity, or even horror, others continue to reproduce sanitized or exaggerated versions of village life that serve urban sensibilities more than rural realities.

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