| Madras Courier - Part 162

The Struggle for Transgender Identity

Transgender rights in India hinge on a Supreme Court judgement, and a battle of bills between the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Stereotypes often frame South India as a unified ‘Madrasi’ whole. The truth is – South India is a thali, not a single serving.

Surfing isn’t a popular Indian sport. Murthy Meghavana, a fisherman-turned-surfer, dreams of making it to the olympics.

India’s slums coexist with her cities, in an uneasy relationship. The stories of slum dwellers reflect the casualties of urban growth

For millennia, India has been the world’s favourite spice market. For many merchants, it’s an intergenerational business.

Police encounters in India see insurgents and terrorists killed without trial. What makes encounter situations so difficult to verify?

Indira Gandhi survived harsh political realities to become India’s first woman prime minister. We look at the legacy she left.

Is depiction of sexual violence, animal abuse and communalism in Indian films a recipe for commercial success?

Movember is here! We mark the month with a piece on the great Indian moustache, and what it means to live in ‘Hairy Hindustan’.

India’s first Dalit President, K.R. Narayanan, changed his office from that of a rubber-stamp to a safeguard of democratic integrity.

As climate change negotiations are held in air-conditioned halls – the poor continue to suffer from global warming and extreme weather.

For some, the economy of waste is an opportunity. For others, a nightmare. What’s broken about the waste economy?

India has contributed more troops to UN peacekeeping missions than any other nation. Why is the country left out of the Security Council?

In Telangana, the festival of Bonalu features a man decapitating a live sheep with his mouth. Is animal sacrifice legal in India?

Aghoris eat faeces and rotting flesh; live in graveyards and worship the dead. What’s the ideology behind such extreme practices?