People & Culture -

Group of men in traditional Kerala attire preparing decorated snake boats for the Aranmula Vallamkali festival on the Pamba River.

Human Stories

Kerala Celebrates 700 Years of the Legendary Aranmula Snake Boat Race

Aranmula: Seven Centuries of Faith and Flowing Heritage It is 2025, and the village of Aranmula is waking to a celebration that has endured 700 years. Today, the river tells a story, not of conquest, but of devotion, unity, and timeless tradition. The Vallamkali is not just a boat race. It is the heartbeat of a village, a melody of faith, a river alive with centuries of history. People have arrived from every corner of Kerala, drawn by a legend whispered over generations. Some say it is mere folklore; yet, in Aranmula,

September 10, 2025 No Comments

Human Stories

The Girl Who Wouldn’t Break

Pain is the body’s most honest truth. It does not lie. It does not exaggerate. It simply speaks, sometimes in whispers, sometimes in roars that shake you to your core. For Mercy Oluwanisola Akintola, Sola to those who love her, pain has been a lifelong companion. It is a voice she never asked for but one she has learned to listen to carefully. Pain tells her when to pause, when to breathe, when to fight. It tells her that she is alive. But this is not a story about pain. This is

September 8, 2025 No Comments

Shanti Devi with Mahatma Gandhi during the investigation of her past life claims in 1930s India.

Human Stories

Reincarnation: Does Life Really End, or Begin Again?

What if death isn’t the end? What if the breath you just took is not your first or your last? Across the world, across centuries, humanity has wrestled with this question. In India, the word is punarjanma. In Buddhism, it is samsara. In the West, it lingers as a whisper, tucked between religion and myth. The idea of reincarnation is both universal and deeply contested: a belief that the soul survives death, only to return in another form, another body, another story. But is it faith? Fantasy? Or something we are still

September 6, 2025 No Comments

An Indian woman sprays perfume while nearby Japanese commuters cover their noses, symbolizing the cultural debate on ‘smell harassment’ in Japan.

People & Culture

Smell Harassment in Japan Sparks a Wider Cultural Debate

A small fragrance clash shows how cultural norms can spark big debates about how we live together. Have you ever thought that something as small as your perfume could upset someone else? What if a scent you love makes another person uncomfortable or even sick? This is exactly what happened to an Indian woman living in Japan. She was shocked to learn that wearing strong perfume could be considered “smell harassment.” Why does Japan take scents so seriously? Could it be because personal space and the comfort of others matter so much

September 6, 2025 No Comments

Cartoon of Gurugram helmet fine showing tourist with CCTV camera helmet, police officer holding ₹1000 note, and caption “Accountability begins only when the camera is on.”

Politics

Gurugram Helmet Fine: When Accountability Depends on a Camera

The Gurugram helmet fine incident has highlighted how enforcement in India often depends more on visibility than on process. A Japanese tourist was stopped in Gurugram for not wearing a helmet and fined ₹1000 in cash. No receipt was issued. When the video of this exchange went viral, three traffic police officers were suspended. The case shows how accountability still begins only when the camera is on. On the surface, the fine was a routine matter. Helmets are essential for road safety, and rules exist to protect lives. But the way the

September 4, 2025 No Comments

The UK Parliament with a sharp upward arrow and rising financial graph, symbolizing the surge in UK 30-year government bond yields.

Politics

UK’s Borrowing Cost Surge Is a Warning Sign, Not a Crisis, Yet

The news that UK 30-year government bond yields have climbed to 5.69%, a level not seen since 1998, should not be dismissed as a technical market move. It’s a signal, and a loud one, that global financial conditions are tightening in ways that will test the resilience of the UK economy, policymakers, and households. What This Spike Really Tells Us When long-dated government borrowing costs surge, it usually reflects two things: inflation expectations and investor confidence. The former remains stubbornly high despite the Bank of England’s aggressive rate hikes. The latter is

September 2, 2025 No Comments

People & Culture

Kerala documentary festival honours Dalit Subbaiah film

The 17th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) has concluded in Thiruvananthapuram with honours going to films that explored marginalised voices and social realities. The top prize for Best Long Documentary was awarded to Dalit Subbaiah – Voice of the Rebels, directed by M K P Gridaran, a film on legendary singer Lenin Subbaiah. The award carries a cash prize of ₹2,00,000. Negative Remorse by Shankar Goud was named Second Best Long Documentary, while special jury mentions went to Shihab Ongallur for cinematography in Record Dance and Bigyna Dahal

August 27, 2025 No Comments

Still from “From Ground Zero” showing Gaza’s bomb-damaged streets, screened at IDSFFK 2025 opening.

People & Culture

IDSFFK 2025: From Gaza’s ruins to Kerala’s screens, stories of conflict and resilience

The silence inside Thiruvananthapuram’s Kairali theatre was striking. On screen, Gaza’s bomb-scarred streets and broken families unfolded in From Ground Zero, an anthology by 22 Palestinian directors. It was the opening of the 17th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), and the choice of film made clear that this annual event would once again confront some of the world’s most urgent conflicts. Held each year by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, IDSFFK has grown into one of India’s most politically engaged cultural events. For six days, from 22 to

August 26, 2025 No Comments

Genshitsu Sen, tea master who turned a kamikaze past into a global message of peace, dies aged 102

Genshitsu Sen, Japan’s revered 15th-generation Urasenke tea master, has died aged 102. A former kamikaze trainee turned global peace ambassador, he devoted his life to spreading harmony through the Japanese tea ceremony.

August 21, 2025 No Comments

Human Stories

The Simpsons Never Predicted Trump’s Death. But Conspiracy Culture Loves Them

A viral Instagram clip is making the rounds. It claims The Simpsons predicted Donald Trump’s death in August 2025. The video looks convincing. It has Springfield’s bright colours. It has the slow cartoon drawl. It feels like satire turned into prophecy. But it is fake. There is no such episode. Not in 1989. Not in 2000. Not in any of the 750 plus episodes. Producers have denied it. The Simpsons Wiki has no record of it. Fact-checkers have taken it apart. The coffin image is doctored. It has been on the internet

August 11, 2025 No Comments