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Seventy two hours of music with 400,000 people in attendance. Woodstock Music & Art Fair opened in a lush farm in New York on August 15, 1969. Half a century later, it has became the most important festival of its kind for the manner in which it mixed music and politics.

What is it that the Undergraduate Curriculum Revision Committee of Delhi University not want its students to read

The extended drought in parts of Maharashtra has resulted in loss of agricultural livelihoods and a severe water crisis. Some farmers in the worst-affected areas around Latur district have moved to sustainable community initiatives to survive

From leading a political party at the age of 100 to learning to write at 97, Kerala’s nonagenarian and centenarian women are scripting plucky stories by doggedly keeping pace with life despite crushing personal losses

More and more people and organisations are online, leaving digital footprints every step of the way. Taken together, this data trail is a much sought-after commodity, monetised by businesses. It can also prove to be destructive in the wrong hands. Individuals, organisations and the government scramble to safeguard personal data and privacy in the age of the internet

Politics, nationalism and cricket are an old triumvirate, having intersected ever since the beginning of the game itself. The men’s cricket World Cup, which draws to a close on Sunday, threw up interludes when the proceedings became charged politically

As celebrations across the world mark the birth centenary of Kaifi Azmi (1919-2002), the poet’s daughter, Shabana Azmi, recalls his enduring legacy

Kaifi Azmi’s concern for the less privileged found ample voice in his poetry. An excerpt from ‘Kaifi Azmi: Poetry | Nazms’ by Sudeep Sen

Kaifi Azmi belonged to a generation of writers and lyricists who dreamed of an inclusive, post-Partition India wedded to justice and equality

Recent releases in Malayalam cinema depart from pigeonholing women in domestic roles. Female characters explore their fates on their own terms. So why do such characters make women film-makers in Kerala uneasy?

Thanks to Gully Boy, the Hindi heartland may have woken up to the raw energy of rap only now. Down south, a slew of rappers have long been using their music to register pride in their language and identity, and define their politics of resistance

The CPI(M) general secretary says electoral setbacks can never dent the relevance of the Left or its ability to speak up for the people

With its Lok Sabha seat count in Bengal down to zero, the image of the CPI(M) — just like its headquarters in Kolkata — is in need of urgent repair

Reduced to single digits in Parliament, the country’s two main communist parties — CPI and CPI (M) — face an existential crisis. Not so long ago they wielded formidable clout on policymaking, putting bread-and-butter issues centre-stage. Today, they are left soul-searching on the reasons for their disconnect with once-steadfast allies — the youth, farmers and the working class

Author and poet Anita Nair on listening to water

In the parched region — most of which is in the Godavari basin — the monsoon is a reluctant visitor

Treat rainfall like music; hear it attentively, with pleasure

A painting of rain-drenched Cherrapunji leads to a book that continues to delight readers 30 years after it was written

Creativity in terms of food is the key to the season

There is something about romancing in the rain that film-makers find hard to resist. But the monsoon in the Hindi film industry is not just about lovers dancing or pining for each other

While each season brought its joys, the Mughal char bagh looked its best in the monsoon

Vani Jairam on Bole re papihara, the song that made her a household name

Shared umbrellas and rain-drenched trysts are essential to the universe’s wellness regime

Apart from keeping ailments away, broths and consommés are perfect for wet afternoons