‘When the War Began We Heard of Several Kings’
ChrestomatherAmong recent publications on the Indian role in the First World War, one of the most important is a collection entitled When the War Began We Heard of…
‘Indian Voices of the Great War’
The last few years have seen a long-overdue awakening of interest in the Indian soldiers and auxiliaries who participated in the First World War (it goes without…
‘Touch and Intimacy in First World War Literature’
First World War writing is an old interest of mine so when I came upon a book with the intriguing title 'Touch and Intimacy in the First World War I…
Journey to the ‘Heart of Whiteness’
A turban used by an Indian Sepoy Of all the colonies of the European empires, British India contributed the highest number of men, estimated around one and…
Philip Hensher’s ‘Scenes from Early Life’
I met Philip Hensher in 2008: his novel, The Northern Clemency, was on the Booker Prize shortlist that year, as was my Sea of Poppies. …
Ludu U Sein Win and the School of ‘Feeling, Mood and Action’ in Yangon
On Sunday June 17, the democracy movement in Myanmar lost one of its pillars, Ludu U Sein Wein. Ludu U Sein Win, Jan 1996 …
Correspondence with a doctor
Dear Amitavada, i don't know whether this mail will reach you or not but i feel a tremendous desire to write to you.i am a specialist physician,working in…
Istanbul and Indian Soldiers of the First World War
Given how little thought India’s contribution to the World Wars gets in our collective historical memory, it is almost strange to think that in…
The View from Sir Syed’s Room
On a recent visit to London I was pleasantly surprised to find that my lodgings, …
Seen in the London Underground
At Euston Station …