Sandip Roy

Sandip Roy is the author of the novel "Don't Let Him Know" and senior editor at Firstpost.com. Based in Kolkata, he is a commentator for New America Media.

Sandip Roy is the author of the novel "Don't Let Him Know" and senior editor at Firstpost.com. Based in Kolkata, he is a commentator for New America Media.


Kolkata’s Jewish population is dwindling

Sacred Spaces

The Jewish community in Kolkata came from all over the Middle East, from places like Syria and Iraq. Once home to around 5,000 Jews, only 20 still remain there.

tram in Kolkata with dancers

India’s tramway turned 150. But it’s on its last legs.

Infrastructure
Kolkata's artists had to burn the midnight oil to get their Durga pujas ready early for the special art preview for visiting dignitaries. 

Art and religion remix at this goddess festival in Kolkata

Religion
The ghost known as Kollivay Pey, by Shyam, featured in the book "Ghosts, Demons and Monsters of India."

Haunted India: A new ghost compendium features 700 creatures from A to Z

Belief
A child looks up at a TV screen with several apps to choose from at his home in New Delhi, India.

India’s ‘streaming dream’ may dim with new digital regulations

Arts, Culture & Media
People wearing protective gear worship in front of a 10-armed ornate goddess idol on a platform.

‘No mask, no goddess’: Kolkata reimagines Durga Puja festival amid pandemic

Religion

As COVID-19 cases rise in West Bengal state, Durga Puja festival organizers and devotees alike are following strict protocols to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and families are adapting traditional rituals in order to celebrate safely.

Women practice yoga in front of Beatles-themed displays at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh

50 years on, India is celebrating the Beatles’ infamous trip to the country

Culture

When the Beatles embarked on their famous discovery of India to study transcendental meditation, the Indian government was far more wary.

The newly created country of Pakistan continued to use stamps printed by the British, but stamped them with the name Pakistan, until new stamps could be printed.

It’s been 70 years since India’s Partition. There’s finally a museum devoted to it.

Conflict

India has a new museum devoted to its Partition with Pakistan. Organizers say they want to collect stories from people not just in India, but Pakistan, Bangladesh and the diaspora.

American and Manipuri players particpate in the woman's polo tournament in Manipuri in January 2016. They're riding the native Manipuri ponies.

How a polo tour in India is helping to protect a rare breed of ponies

Sports

The birthplace of modern polo is trying to save an indigenous breed of pony that’s part of the region’s heritage.

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Inside India, where a one-month war prompted thousands to be interned for years

Justice

In 1962 India and China went to war for a month. During that time thousands Chinese-Indians from around India were rounded up and sent to an internment camp in the Rajasthan desert. Their internment lasted years. This is a history that many in India today have never heard about.