Israr Hasan

Betwixt and between: Tales from a Nepali-Indian girlhood

Ravindra's prose is brisk, smooth, and detailed, with numerous stories from traditional Nepali and Hindu folklore chipped in, adding layers as the story unfolds.

1m ago

Stitching fragments of a city lost in time

In the contested notion of creating a ‘nation,’ few ideas provoke as much ire among the everyday citizens of a bordered entity as the concept of a space—one that carries with it the weight of instilling an identity.

2m ago

Down the rabbit hole of science and art

The city of Prague, now the capital of the Czech Republic, was once the breeding hotspot of the 20th century’s greatest writers, scientists, scholars, and activists.

7m ago

Witnessing the Turkish century

In the post-9/11 world, no country’s name has been evoked more than Turkey’s (or its newly rebranded name of Türkiye) in public discussions by foreign policy pundits and politicians alike, to demonstrate the harmonious symbiosis of the East and West, Islam and secularism, and tradition and modernity.

11m ago

An enigma amongst nations

In Alex Christofi’s newly published fascinating book—Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean—we get a deep close-range look at one of world civilisation’s interesting hotspots that has long swayed between the cross-currents of the rise and fall of the great monotheisms.

12m ago

A love letter to traveling with friends

A review of ‘Roaming’ (Drawn and Quarterly, 2023) by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

1y ago

A graphic novel on the push and pull of friendships

The stories occur in places deeply etched into many of our memories—from rooftops to buses to benches in the park to the digital world of emails and texts.

2y ago

Lee Lai's 'Stone Fruit': Jokes, rhymes, and the depths of relationships

One of the most searing scenes in Lee Lai’s magnificent graphic novel, Stone Fruit (Fantagraphics, 2021) is when a young child, Nessie,

3y ago
September 3, 2021
September 3, 2021

Here’s why switching to ebooks is a good idea

Reading is popular. It has always been that way. Human beings have been reading ever since patterns of writing first emerged in cuneiform in Mesopotamia and books have always contained a kernel of our individual merriments.

August 12, 2021
August 12, 2021

‘Wendy, Master of Art’: The life of the artist in graduate school

No one said earning a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) would be easy. After all, art is anything but a linear process of creation. It zigzags through tumultuous periods of unease, delicate uncertainties, and perpetual anxieties, along with quite a mouthful of self-induced negativity.

July 30, 2021
July 30, 2021

Essential skills for budding researchers

Many people are interested in research and it is not uncommon for young people, especially recent graduates, to join think tanks or research centres to try their luck at expanding the frontier of knowledge.

July 15, 2021
July 15, 2021

Revisiting the lost Jewish communities of Baghdad

Iraq once boasted one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities, encompassing 2,600 years of rich cultural history punctuated with moments of benign tolerance, blatant discrimination, and outright intolerance and persecution.

June 11, 2021
June 11, 2021

Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K: personification of 'big brain time'

A glance at the iconic rogue gallery of Marvel’s top villains and you will come across the name of M.O.D.O.K, the iconic villain with an enormously oversized brain with tiny limbs floating on a machine.

April 30, 2021
April 30, 2021

Exterminate All the Brutes: telling the whole story as it is

Three words summarise the history of humanity: civilisation, colonisation, and extermination. The three words in concrete terms have shaped and moulded our current world. Each word holds a special significance for us, especially for those of us growing up in what can be perceived as the post-colonial world.

April 8, 2021
April 8, 2021

An untold story of Black liberation in the Amazon

The New World, as started by Spanish and Portuguese authorities followed by the Dutch and the English, was built on the amputated bodies of countless indigenous and Black people.

February 11, 2021
February 11, 2021

The Code Name for a Bloodstained Era

Vincent Bevins is an award-winning journalist who covered Southeast Asia and Brazil for the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times respectively.

January 26, 2021
January 26, 2021

Nurturing warmth with sweet freeze

Gelatos has always been a favourite at our dinner tables serving as the prime dessert course. They pack a brilliant punch of intensified flavour, making it the perfect complement to have in any setting.

January 22, 2021
January 22, 2021

2020’s top astrophysicist Tonima Tasnim Ananna from Bangladesh explains just why black holes are so cool

Bangladeshi astrophysicist Tonima Tasnim Ananna, who recently topped the 2020 edition of Science News (SN) magazine's SN 10: Scientists to Watch, has been lauded for her outstanding groundbreaking research on black holes. Toggle caught up with Ananna for a chat, in hopes of understanding the fascinating phenomena of black holes.