A History of Bhang, India’s Most Accessible Cannabis
From Holi celebrations to paan shops, bhang has been consumed for thousands of years in India.
Michaela Stone Cross
The Oscar-Shortlisted "Bittu" More Than Delivers
A series of interlinked unfortunate events, rather than any malintent, leads to the tightly-woven short film’s ultimate climax and tragedy.
Snigdha Sur
What Recipes Leave Off the Page
Recipes, family legacies, and lore are passed down in the kitchen, not the written word.
Arundhati Ail
Helen, the Glittering Mehbooba of Bollywood
Draped in lace, rhinestones, and fur, Helen claimed and rebranded the archetype of a vamp.
Imaan Sheikh
People Have a Lot to Say About the Meghan-Harry Interview
From racism to female-upheld misogyny, Oprah’s interview brought up familiar themes for Brown viewers everywhere.
“Bombay Begums” and the Missing Subtext
Billed as a feminist series, the Netflix show ends up serving standard Bollywood fare of wrongdoing and retribution.
Poulomi Das
How Pakistani Mangoes Became Maoist Propaganda
The regifting of a fruit sparked a political frenzy in a country where they were little-known.
Myles Karp
Why Bollywood Queens Start in the South
For decades, Hindi cinema has been sourcing its leading ladies from the Southern film industries of India.
Dilani Rabindran
Celebrating Women's History Month: 2021
This Women’s History Month, read some of our best stories on icons across politics, music, food, art, business, comedy, and more.
The Juggernaut
“Bhaji on the Beach” and the Magic of Communal Unlearning
Against the symbolic backdrop of the beach, Gurinder Chadha and Meera Syal’s film captures what a single fleeting day of freedom can do for Brown women.
Nearly 50 Years After their Expulsion, Asian Ugandans Still Remember Home
Younger generations are grappling with not only the trauma of leaving their homes, but also their community’s colonial complicity.
Samira Sawlani
How Soya Nuggets Became a Household Ingredient in India
A strange twist of history made this plant-based protein a feature of Indian cuisine.
Shirin Mehrotra
Myanmar: A Brief History of Military Rule
After less than a decade of democracy, the military has once more taken control of the government.
Erin Blair
Why Brown Moms Love Princess Diana
The South Asian women who came of age in the 1980s viewed Lady Di as both a contemporary and a cautionary tale.
Devanshi Patel
Black Women, Indian Hair
For decades, Indian temples have been selling hair to Black women around the world as part of the $58 million human hair export industry.
Sabrina Toppa
In “Namaste Wahala,” the Villains Drive the Story
The rare depiction of Black and Brown love left us craving more romance.
Oluwadunsin Deinde-Sanya
Excerpt: "The Three Mothers"
In honor of Black History Month, an excerpt from a book celebrating the untold stories of the mothers who raised and influenced Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin.
Anna Malaika Tubbs
Rekha, Amitabh, Jaya: A Silsila of Deprivation
Decades later, Bollywood’s most infamous love triangle seems even more tragic than we first thought.
Sri Lanka’s Little-Known Memoni Cuisine
For years, Memoni food remained absent from mainstream Sri Lankan cuisine, but women from the community are changing that.
Zinara Rathnayake
Dissenting Cinema: Why India Censors Films
The Indian government has long been quick to censor content that poses a challenge to the reigning politics of the time.
Meher Manda