Mekong Review

Category: South Asia

Scars of victory

Robic Upadhayay

Every decade or so, Nepal endures upheaval, then dusts itself off—a cycle of destruction and reconstruction. But, maybe this time, the cycle will finally be broken.

Too much for the lens

Sabahat Ali Wani

Through their exposure in front of the camera—as well as their work behind it—the faces and bodies of Kashmiri women not only become visible but also assert themselves on their own terms.

The long road

Tom Vater

Nepal’s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of marriage equality, but people on the ground say there’s still a long way to go before same-sex marriage gains acceptance across the country.

Undiplomatically speaking

Isaac Neo

While the bulk of the book focuses on diplomacy, Living the Asian Century can also be read as an introduction to the governance style of Singapore’s first generation of leaders as seen through Mahbubani’s eyes.

Poetry and music

Jhilam Chattaraj

An interview with Sudeep Sen, a poet who has edited influential anthologies and offered poems to a polarised world in times of crises.

Fact in fiction

Radhika Oberoi

Arundhati Roy’s fiction and non-fiction offer a worldview bristling with the fervour of a pamphleteer, the intuitiveness of old lovers, the curiosity of a child.

Dyeing art

Adil Hussain and Owais Gul

The ancient practice of dyeing yarn in Kashmir used to be the source of livelihood for hundreds of families, but modern techniques and tools have slowly pushed the tradespeople into the margins.

Factory voices

Anand P. Krishnan

Japanese Management, Indian Resistance is an important work in understanding the larger ecosystem of foreign capital, more specifically that from East Asia, in India’s political-economic-social terrain.

Let the dead speak

Fathima Cader

Shehan Karunatilaka’s Chats with the Dead is a darkly satirical novel with a good dose of the fatalistic humour Sri Lankans will find familiar.

Hope

Hina Husain

Not only did the promise of “Naya Pakistan” never materialise, the country is actually much worse off today.

Burgess in the East

Michael Howard

In his memoirs, Burgess recalled Graham Greene telling him (not unkindly) that Time for a Tiger was an amusing but essentially frivolous book. Greene’s evaluation hasn’t stood the test of time.

The play of power

Pauline Fan

Mak Yong encompasses elements of dance, drama, storytelling, music and ritual, and is a women-centred folk tradition nurtured by community bonds.

Solipsism

Pratinav Anil

It is the whiggish conceit of a certain kind of cosmopolitan that cultural exchange breeds understanding. But it can just as well occasion contempt. The story Nile Green tells in How Asia Found Herself: A Story of Intercultural Understanding is a riot of intercultural misunderstanding and misperception.