Dispatches from Kolkata

A small state with hilly terrain is turning into India’s fruit wine haven. Sandip Roy samples the vintage.

Vidya Rajan, an academic and author specializing in rubber's history, shares her insights on the fascinating world of this indispensable substance. She discusses ancient civilizations' use of rubber, including Olmec innovations that improved its durability. The conversation also covers the brutal colonial exploitation-driven rubber trade, the rivalry between Goodyear and Hancock, and the intriguing quest for sustainable alternatives, like using dandelions for rubber production. Rajan's expert commentary illuminates rubber's complex legacy and its future.

Thanksgiving was one of Sandip's favorite "American" holidays, now he considers what to give thanks for.

A city with lights galore is proof of how successful and important it is.Yet darkness too is an old friend. Sandip ponders the shadows.

Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy to be the next mayor of New York City has had an unexpected side effect.It’s been a crash course in South Asian Studies 101 for mainstream America.

Last week was Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. But Sandip Roy grew up with the Goddess Kali.

Sandip discovers that even a city we think we know inside out can surprise us, at night.

Almost every day these days someone on my social media feed shares a picture of their copy of Mother Mary Come to Me, Booker winning Indian writer Arundhati Roy’s latest book.Sandip Roy condiders the difficulty in writing about one's own family.

In a city awash with Durgas that bask in the old joys of the past, it’s a joy to meet a New Durga imagining a brighter future.

India is apparently the the second most sleep deprived country in the world. 60 percent of Indians routinely getting by on less than 6 hours of sleep. Is it time for National Sleep Guidlines?