Latest stories

Win Rozario Should Be Alive

NYPD fatally shot a Bangladeshi American teen in the midst of a mental health crisis. Where is the outrage?

Rabindranath Tagore’s Lost Legacy

The Bard of Bengal won a Nobel Prize and global fame. So why do we tend to ignore his relevance today?

Met Gala 2024: South Asians, and Color, Return

Alia Bhatt won “The Garden of Time” amid beige overload and 2023's black-and-white Lagerfeld theme.

Dalip Singh Saund, the First Asian American in Congress

The remarkable story of how an Indian immigrant went from second-class citizen to elected official.

Sepia Mutiny, South Asian America’s Front Page

From 2004 to 2012, one internet forum shaped the community’s conversations like never before. And this is its story.

Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: 2024

This May, a roundup of 15 stories that celebrate South Asian American life, culture, innovation, and history.

‘Heeramandi’ is Beautiful But Incomplete

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s streaming debut is characteristically grandiose. But it falls short where it matters most.

Coke Studio is Pakistan’s Multicultural Reality

Many would have you believe the country is a monolith. But its most popular music says otherwise.

‘Laapataa Ladies’: A Master Class in Loss, Love, and Laughs

What happens when a man takes home the wrong bride? Hijinks galore and a searing treatise on how society treats women.

The Making of the Indian Rupee Symbol

Unlike other large economies, India took centuries to design a currency sign of its own. Was it worth the wait?

Sachin Tendulkar, a New Hero For a New India

The cricket legend’s talents are beyond question. But what if his superstardom has to do with more than skill?

How a 2001 Bollywood Song Birthed a Viral TikTok Trend

The ‘Asoka makeup’ hashtag is now everywhere. Its origins might surprise you.

What Kerala’s Syrian Christians Tell Us About Caste

The community has toed the line between its minority status and privilege for millennia. But few have examined its contested past.

Election Ink, Democracy’s Great Equalizer

The anxieties of a nascent India gave birth to the semi-permanent dye. Today, it represents how far the country has come.

How the West Bastardized Baby Massages

As U.S. practitioners “discover” the millennia-old tradition from the Indian subcontinent, what gets lost in the process?

‘Amar Singh Chamkila’: An Ode to a Punjabi Folk Hero

Diljit Dosanjh stars in the Imtiaz Ali biopic that isn’t afraid to embrace the violence and vulgarity of the real-life story behind it.

Boroline, the Bengali Miracle Cream

The Indian antiseptic ointment has outlasted the British, Partition, and copycats. Its formula for winning isn’t what you think.

Phoolan Devi: Bandit Queen, Activist, Goddess

The Dalit leader instilled fear in men and fought for her beliefs. So why do many depict her as a victim?

The Eclipse That Ended the Great Sikh Genocide

Ahmad Shah Durrani’s soldiers massacred 30,000 unarmed Sikhs. It took a celestial event on Diwali to halt the ensuing bloodshed.

Jasmine Flowers Are More Than an Accessory

The delicate white buds have stood the test of time, cementing themselves in pop culture, weddings, mythology, and everyday life.