The Dosa Gentrification
Indian culture is under siege by Westerners enamored with yoga, authenticity, and convenience. The dosa—a beloved, inconvenient tradition—could be next to fall.
india
A collection of 25 issues
Water From Elephants
Humans have kept elephants for thousands of years, longer than we've domesticated chickens. Yet the great animals’ capacity to cry for freedom comes as a shock.
Having to Do With the Price of Onions
A sharp rise recently in the price of onions in India is about a lot more than just sandwiches. When onions are up, even governments are at risk.
Mumbai Moment
Mumbai could be thought of as New York, LA, and Lagos all wrapped into one. But a string of rapes changes all that.
Six Strings
Growing up in Ohio, far from the homeland of her parents, a girl puzzles over her identity, until the strings of a sitar create a connection.
A Distribution of Chairs
As India considers saving seats for women in the government’s upper tier, a tour of the country’s rural east shows how quotas have turned women into local politicians.
Dosa Data
Having only known American buffets of naan and samosas, Our correspondent’s final dispatch from Mumbai pays tribute to pani puri, a Szechuan Cheese dosa, and the peppered popsicle.
The Expat’s New Clothes
Living in a region where you dress differently from everyone else, you begin to notice the little things. Our woman in Mumbai undergoes an education in Indian fashion.
It’s Like This, Only
Language in Mumbai can be tricky for newcomers, especially foreigners trying to hail taxis.
The Mumbai Limited
Middle-class life in India requires two wheels. Our local correspondent adapts to rage on the road and learns about purchasing underwear while commuting.
Gandhi’s Return
Last week at a Manhattan auction house, five of Mahatma Gandhi’s personal items were on the block when second thoughts crept in. From the back offices, observing an auction in suspense.
Not Just Jazz by the Bay
Two months since the Mumbai attacks, the city is numb and rumors breed wildly. Our reporter in India's financial capital reports on house parties, police lines, and the threatened market for roti rolls.
Big B Gets a Bellyache
In Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan is a big deal. When his tummy has troubles, so do Indian cinema and all of its star-crazed fans.
Ask the Sexpert
Among India's treasures, the Mumbai Mirror’s Sexpert column stands apart, advising modern Indians on the confusing sexual issues of our time, like why the foot lacks the vagina’s power.
5:20 to Jaipur
What does it say about you if one of the most notable themes of your travel tales is the way you kept breaking out into hysterical laughter?
Good Morning
On the way home to Canada, Pasha Malla struggles to focus on India’s future even as one of its own children wails in his ear. The conclusion of his travel diary.
Lessons in Humility
In a flying trip to Bombay, our author encounters the ghost of Gandhi and considers how the late leader's values intersect with those of today's hard-charging India. The next installment of his travel journal.
Making It
A visit to the technology hub that is Bangalore reveals a modern city with vibrant nightlife and a surprisingly literary police force, during the latest stop in this travelogue.
Breaking Bread
A long-awaited history lesson from a cousin turns into an education on religion and politics in post-partition Kashmir, in the seventh installment of his travel journal.
Henna, and Coca-Cola
The wedding arrives, and our author finds his role is more than just that of guest. But playing the pious Hindu “brother” doesn’t come easy. The sixth in a series of travel essays.
Paradise Lost?
As relatives gather for a wedding, Pasha Malla faces tough questions about why his family moved away from Jammu and Kashmir and tries to figure out what, exactly, they left behind. Part five of his travel journal.
When We Go North
Along bumpy roads and past intimidating border posts, our author heads north for his cousin's wedding and discovers safety might be just a state of mind, in the fourth installment in his travel journal.
New Money
On a trip back to India, our author sees the shining new face of the country's idealistic business elite--and also the not-so-shining parts. The third installment in a series of travel essays.
A Couple of My Dad's Lives
On a trip back to India, Pasha Malla sets his itinerary in search of his past. He gets up close and personal in a nation of arranged marriages, in the second installment in his travel journal.
Namaskar, Goodnight
On a trip back to India, our author sets his itinerary in search of his past. But in an ever-changing country, history can be difficult to find. The first in a series of travel essays.