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Interview by J. Shruti; Illustrations by Mallika Chandra. Content Warning: This interview contains descriptions of sexual and caste violence. Edited excerpts from the conversation: J. Shruti (SJ): I watched Gargi not too long ago. In the film, we are led through the perspective of the female protagonist, whose father has been accused in the case of the gang rape of a nine-year-old girl who lives in the building where he works as a security guard. We do not see the act of rape itself, but we are given a glimpse of what is about to happen through an opaque window pane, where we see one of the men take off his shirt. We also see the girl’s hands and how they move in response to this ...

Columns Illustrations by Prashant Kanyalkar This column was originally published in Verve Magazine’s Volume 5, Issue 3; July-September 1997.  You would think, wouldn’t you, that the Government of India had enough notice that this year’s 15th August was somewhat special? And that it needed long-term planning to commemorate it in a way beyond the routine? But clocks and calendars run differently for the government. So instead of the three years or so which should have gone into the organisation of national celebrations, we have had nine months of committees. (Is there a Freudian symbolism hidden there?) The National Committee was the mother of all committees. It had 227 members i...

Travel Text by Avani Thakkar. Images courtesy Pavan Srinivas. How do you like your coffee? Piping hot and black or ice-cold with swirls of Nutella? Strong enough to lend you a surge of productive energy that could potentially turn into jittery anxiousness by your third cup or lightly dosed with just enough caffeine to pretend like you have your wits about you on yet another Monday morning? Ashish D’abreo likes his fermented with beer, which might sound like an unusual choice to those who swear by their trusty cappuccino, but he makes no excuses for it. The Bengaluru-based barista, mixologist and one-third of the brains behind Maverick & Farmer Coffee, an artisanal coffee brand (with...

Travel Text by Avani Thakkar. Images courtesy Pavan Srinivas. How do you like your coffee? Piping hot and black or ice-cold with swirls of Nutella? Strong enough to lend you a surge of productive energy that could potentially turn into jittery anxiousness by your third cup or lightly dosed with just enough caffeine to pretend like you have your wits about you on yet another Monday morning? Ashish D’abreo likes his fermented with beer, which might sound like an unusual choice to those who swear by their trusty cappuccino, but he makes no excuses for it. The Bengaluru-based barista, mixologist and one-third of the brains behind Maverick & Farmer Coffee, an artisanal coffee brand (with...

Travel Text by Avani Thakkar. Images courtesy Pavan Srinivas. How do you like your coffee? Piping hot and black or ice-cold with swirls of Nutella? Strong enough to lend you a surge of productive energy that could potentially turn into jittery anxiousness by your third cup or lightly dosed with just enough caffeine to pretend like you have your wits about you on yet another Monday morning? Ashish D’abreo likes his fermented with beer, which might sound like an unusual choice to those who swear by their trusty cappuccino, but he makes no excuses for it. The Bengaluru-based barista, mixologist and one-third of the brains behind Maverick & Farmer Coffee, an artisanal coffee brand (with...

Travel Text by Avani Thakkar. Images courtesy Pavan Srinivas. How do you like your coffee? Piping hot and black or ice-cold with swirls of Nutella? Strong enough to lend you a surge of productive energy that could potentially turn into jittery anxiousness by your third cup or lightly dosed with just enough caffeine to pretend like you have your wits about you on yet another Monday morning? Ashish D’abreo likes his fermented with beer, which might sound like an unusual choice to those who swear by their trusty cappuccino, but he makes no excuses for it. The Bengaluru-based barista, mixologist and one-third of the brains behind Maverick & Farmer Coffee, an artisanal coffee brand (with...

Travel Text by Avani Thakkar. Images courtesy Pavan Srinivas. How do you like your coffee? Piping hot and black or ice-cold with swirls of Nutella? Strong enough to lend you a surge of productive energy that could potentially turn into jittery anxiousness by your third cup or lightly dosed with just enough caffeine to pretend like you have your wits about you on yet another Monday morning? Ashish D’abreo likes his fermented with beer, which might sound like an unusual choice to those who swear by their trusty cappuccino, but he makes no excuses for it. The Bengaluru-based barista, mixologist and one-third of the brains behind Maverick & Farmer Coffee, an artisanal coffee brand (with...

Travel Text by Avani Thakkar. Images courtesy Pavan Srinivas. How do you like your coffee? Piping hot and black or ice-cold with swirls of Nutella? Strong enough to lend you a surge of productive energy that could potentially turn into jittery anxiousness by your third cup or lightly dosed with just enough caffeine to pretend like you have your wits about you on yet another Monday morning? Ashish D’abreo likes his fermented with beer, which might sound like an unusual choice to those who swear by their trusty cappuccino, but he makes no excuses for it. The Bengaluru-based barista, mixologist and one-third of the brains behind Maverick & Farmer Coffee, an artisanal coffee brand (with...