Swamini was wide awake, even though it was later than midnight, listening intently to her parents’ discussions. In their modest cottage of two rooms in a small village of Maharashtra, three worried souls were lamenting the poor monsoon. Scarce rainfall meant Swamini’s father would have a low crop yield and this would set them back […]

The era of coffee shops is passé now, the charcha is all about the chai and around the chaiwala. However, let the disclaimer come in—there are no political angles here. The humble and often ignored concoction of tea has finally taken the trendy crowd by its sweet spell. Or wait, there is more than sweetness […]

Retired school teacher, Mala Roy enjoyed feeding flocks of sparrows and mynahs on the terrace of her Chetla home before it was turned into an apartment. Now she doesn’t get to spend much time with her winged friends. “The mess of bird feed upset some of my neighbours, so they complained to the president of […]

Social networks, since time immemorial, have existed in various forms, including family, relatives, friends, office buddies, and more. Building such networks is an integral part of human nature. However, in the digital era that we’re living in, the proliferation of the internet and smartphones have transformed our social networks like never before. These technologies have altered the […]

As cyclone Fani was battering the coasts of Odisha recently, gusty winds and rains hit Kolkata leading to waterlogging and traffic congestion in several areas. The monsoons are soon going to arrive and if you are a resident of the city of joy, you know what it means for any natural disaster in Kolkata. Even […]