Latest stories

We’ve published over 1,650 stories at The Juggernaut diving into South Asian culture, politics, history, profiles, business, and tech. Here are all of our stories for you to peruse, with the most recent first.

Mumbai, India July 15, 2010: D Udaya Kumar, IIT post-graduate, whose design has been approved as the symbol of the Indian rupee, photographed at IIT Bombay campus. (Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint via Getty Images)

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?

Sneha Mehta

Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar is carried on his teammates shoulders after India defeated Sri Lanka in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 final played at The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2, 2011. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

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?

Ayesha Le Breton

Tiktokers part of the #asokamakeup trend.

How a 2001 Bollywood Song Birthed a Viral TikTok Trend

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

Ayesha Le Breton

A Syrian Orthodox Christian priest celebrates Saint George's Day in Kottayam, Kerala. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is a church based in Kerala, India. According to tradition, the church originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century CE. (Rainer Krack/Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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.

Vaishnavi Naidu

First time Indian voter Rajesh Vichare displays the indelible ink mark that shows he has cast his vote at a primary school in Kondgaon village of Raigad district of Maharashtra on April 23, 2009 (INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

Jesslyn Tannady

Woman massaging her baby with oil, picture taken in Nepal (BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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?

Vaishnavi Naidu

Parineeti Chopra and Diljit Dosanjh in 'Amar Singh Chamkila' (2024)

‘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.

Meher Manda

Boroline (Snigdha Sur for The Juggernaut)

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.

Ayesha Le Breton

MIRZAPUR, INDIA, 24 April 1996, Phoolan Devi, backed by a bodyguard and supporters, stops during her political campaign to be photographed. (RAVEENDRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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?

Vaishnavi Naidu

Sikhs in battle (Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, sikhmuseum.com)

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.

Ayesha Le Breton

A farmer displays jasmine flowers after harvesting from a farmland on the outskirts of Madurai, India, June 27, 2023 (R. SATISH BABU/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

Isha Banerjee

Intricate drawings of ancient art form kalamkari in Andhra Pradesh, India (Anil Kr Sharma/IndiaPictures/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

How Kalamkari Became Chintz

The British took the ancient textile tradition global. Its artisans have yet to benefit.

Vaishnavi Naidu

Ravi Shankar and George Harrison in Los Angeles in 1967 (Courtesy of the Ravi Shankar Foundation)

Ravi Shankar, the Maestro Who Made the Sitar Cool

His unexpected friendship with Beatles guitarist George Harrison brought Indian classical music to the world and changed global music forever.

Vaishnavi Naidu

Dev Patel and Pitobash in 'Monkey Man' (2024)

‘Monkey Man’ Review: Visually Stunning, But Hollow

Dev Patel’s directorial debut wastes the richness of the Indian mythology it draws from. But we can’t stop watching.

Snigdha Sur

Sri Lankan workers at the Link Natural factory sort through sachets of Samahan in Dompe on December 29, 2010 (AFP PHOTO/Ishara S. KODIKARA via Getty Images)

How Samahan Became a Global Sensation

Fans of the Sri Lankan herbal drink, from Naomi Campbell to Amitabh Bachchan, swear it cures everything from a cold to a cough. Does it?

Mallika Basu

Kerala style beef and tapioca on a banana leaf in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala, India, on May 30, 2022 (Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The Double Lives of Beef-Eating South Asians

Many who grew up steering clear of the red meat are now opting in, sometimes secretly.

Ayesha Le Breton

Celebrating his 72nd birthday, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Governor-General of Pakistan, strolls on the lawn of the Government House at Karachi with his sister, Fatima (Getty Images)

Fatima Jinnah, More Than Her Brother’s Keeper

Many have tried to sanitize the legacy of the first Pakistani woman to run for president and challenge the country’s military.

Ayesha Le Breton

South Asian Studies scholars (The Juggernaut)

Who Should Teach South Asian Studies?

The department has proliferated at U.S. universities. But the discipline’s professors aren’t always who you think.

Farah Akbar

Sufi Malik (left) and Anjali Chakra (right) on their engagement day (Instagram)

What the Anjali-Sufi Story Says About Us

For five years, fans fawned over the interfaith, queer influencers. But a sudden split ahead of their wedding led to a flurry of judgment.

Vaishnavi Naidu

Kenneth La Rosa, Victoria Ortega, Kai Ossé, and Troy Osterberg (Instagram, collage by The Juggernaut)

Who Gets to Observe Ramadan?

The latest TikTok trend? Non-Muslims sharing their fasting journeys. For some, it’s about wellness. For others, it’s a welcome practice.

Ayesha Le Breton