Frontline on the Indian Society - Frontline

The exhibition “Games People Play 02” reinvents traditional sports like table tennis and wrestling. This piece, titled Belief: Monuments of Time, has seven columns of tennis balls with various domestic objects placed at unequal distances. The yellow spheres resemble prayer beads, symbolising the shared beliefs that bind homes and communities together.

‘Games People Play 02’: Art, activism, and anxiety

Thukral and Tagra turn art into a field of play, blending beauty with social critique as a commentary on a world tilting towards authoritarianism.

‘The Dystopian Times’ by Appupen

Cinema and Society

Early exposure to literature helped me in filmmaking: Monjul Baruah

The Assamese filmmaker on his journey from reading novels in school to adapting literary works into award-winning films.

Herojit Nongmaithem

World Mental Health Day

Understanding my mother’s schizophrenia

Excerpts from “The Silent Dialogues: Childhood, Caregiving, Psychiatry and Becoming” by Dr Kavita Arora.

The 2025 adaptation of The War of the Roses tempers the fiery, combative bond between Theo and Ivy, replacing their sharp disagreements with restrained tension and a touch of dark humor.

Roses are red, violets are polite

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman charm in this War of the Roses remake, but the collapse of marriage is oddly civilised for a story about hate.

‘The Dystopian Times’ by Appupen

How idealism became pragmatism

Every movement begins with a dream and ends with a negotiation. The Self-Respect Movement’s political afterlife proves no cause stays pure.

More stories from Society

Maniyammai, who led the Dravidar Kazhagam in the face of all challenges, including the Emergency, with Periyar.

They broke the chains, not the ceiling

While the women leaders of the Self-Respect Movement transformed society in profound ways, full empowerment of women remains far from fully achieved.

People sitting in front of murals of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and “Periyar” E.V. Ramasamy in Chennai.

The century of self-respect

A hundred years later, the Self-Respect Movement’s ideals of equality, women’s liberation, and the annihilation of caste are finding new geographies.

Karthick Ram Manoharan

Mahatma Gandhi believed that India needed a common language rooted in its soil and for him, that language was Hindustani—a widely spoken blend of Hindi and Urdu, written in both Nagari and Urdu scripts. Here, Gandhi addresses the Constructive Workers Conference on January 26, 1946, at Hindi Prachar Sabha in Chennai.

Mahatma Gandhi’s linguistic lesson

He tried uniting India through Hindustani but pleased no one. His contradictions remind us: language politics hasn’t changed, only the players have.

A British-era building is reflected on the glass facade of a contemporary construction in Dalhousie Square, Kolkata, in 2011.

Death of an edifice

The Bengal Bonded Warehouse building in Kolkata, celebrated in an Abanindranath painting, is soon going to be replaced by a brand new building overloo

‘The Dystopian Times’ by Appupen

Muslim women protesting in Lucknow. Protests over the “I Love Muhammad” slogan in Kanpur reveal rising communal tensions, heavy-handed policing, and political manoeuvring in Uttar Pradesh.

The ‘I Love Muhammad’ controversy in Uttar Pradesh

A slogan expressing love for the Prophet led to FIRs in Kanpur, protests across States, and debate on how faith can be expressed in public spaces.

Kannada novelist S.L. Bhyrappa.

S.L. Bhyrappa (1931-2025): the novelist who refused allegory, and moderation

With twenty-four novels, fierce detractors and loyal admirers, his absence is as complicated as his presence.

Srikar Raghavan

People pay homage to a photograph of Zubeen Garg in Guwahati. The musical icon died in Singapore while attending the North East India Festival.

Zubeen Garg: Our mad man was our last home

The maverick musician from Assam, who spoke truth to power when few others dared, became the thread that bound a traumatised generation together.

Paromita Bardoloi

Karamana Janardanan as Unni in the film Elippathayam (Rat trap).

Adoor and the unbearable accumulation of time

From Elippathayam to Vidheyan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan redefined cinema. Now his late-life remarks risk eclipsing the very brilliance they once crowned.

Vidyarthy Chatterjee

‘The Dystopian Times’ by Appupen

A postal stamp depicting the story of Sabari and Rama.

How Volga rescued Sabari from grateful devotee syndrome

In reimagining the tribal ascetic’s tale, the author strips away layers of hierarchy to reveal the original Ramayana.

Amritesh Mukherjee

“Crucifixion” by Jamini Roy, undated.

How conversion anxiety built Hindu nationalism

Mou Banerjee’s thought-provoking book shows how Christian conversions in colonial Bengal shaped debates on caste, inheritance, and nationalism.

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