Smith College South Asian Studies

Congratulations, Rubaiyat! As a Smith alum and now faculty, you've made us proud!

Rubaiyat Hossain becomes second female director to win National Film Award Since 1975, the National Film Awards in Bangladesh have been granted to acknowledge outstanding achievements across diverse aspects of the film industry. Over the course of 48 years, numerous individuals have been honoured in different categories. Today, at the Bangabandhu International Conference C...

Professor Rotman will be giving a public talk in honor of his receiving an endowed chair. Please come if you can!

Recently, faculty and students at Smith College were very happy to host Amit Chaudhuri—acclaimed novelist, critic, poet, singer, and composer—for four days during which he gave a concert performance, visited music classes and delivered this public lecture.

Amit Chaudhuri, "Invisibility and Freedom: Two Stories by Premchand and the Trajectory of Modernity" Premchand (1880–1936), a pioneer of Hindi and Urdu social fiction, wrote over 250 short stories and is celebrated as one of the foremost writers of the India...

Because the duplicate can sometimes express more profound truths than the original. Do watch the trailer of Geetika Narang Abbasi’s delightful documentary - ‘Urf’, on ‘doubles’ in Bollywood.

Urf (a.k.a.) | Official Trailer An Also Ran Films ProductionA film by Geetika Narang AbbasiTrailer Credits:Editors - Avtar Singh, Geetika Narang AbbasiSound Design - Ninad LadPost-Productio...

Happy Diwali!

Hindutva’s threat to academic freedom Hindutva’s threat to academic freedom

A Letter From India, Where the World Is Collapsing Every morning, I wake up in my home in a middle-class locality in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, and heave a sigh of relief. I do not have temperature; my

The Kumbha Mela was a super-spreader event for Covid-19. Why wasn't it restricted?

BJP fired ex-Uttarakhand CM TS Rawat for restricting Kumbh Multiple BJP leaders and mahants revealed that the friction between Trivendra and the akharas over a restricted Kumbh cost him the CM position.

This CNN report from a hospital in Uttar Pradesh, India is painful to watch but important.

See inside hospital in India ravaged by Covid-19 CNN visited a government run hospital in Uttar Pradesh, India, and found scenes of profound suffering as the nation grapples with the coronavirus crisis. ...

India Needs Help to Combat COVID

Passed on to us from a friend:

If you do want to help - here is a list of initiatives, compiled by Ahona Panda that definitely need supporting - and they will put the money to good use - and they come with no Hindutva agenda.
‘Our Democracy - Doctors on Road Campaign
https://www.ourdemocracy.in/Campaign/DoctorsOnRoad
(Not accepting foreign funds. If you know someone with an Indian bank account, you could ask them to transfer the money on your behalf. Delhi Relief Collective has been doing the most exemplary work.See here: https://www.facebook.com/DelhiRelief/ )
https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-ankit-gupta-2...
(By Ankit Gupta, see here: https://sanitybytanmoy.substack.com/.../meet-the-humans...)
https://www.feedingindia.org/ (Zomato India is partnering with civil society groups, NGOs etc.)
https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/mazdoorkitchen (Mazdoor Kitchen is a citizen run voluntary initiative, working to provide meals and subsistence to daily wage workers in North Delhi)
https://www.donatekart.com/MTD/Save-Patients/ (Making The Difference, a Mumbai based NGO, is working closely with all public hospitals and nursing homes to provide them with life-saving healthcare equipment and supplies, to cope with the significant stress on the hospital system.)
https://indiafightscorona.giveindia.org/healthcare-heroes/
(Your contribution will help critical patients, hospitals and Covid Care Centres with life-saving equipment. It will provide oxygen concentrators, refill oxygen cylinders and help Covid Care Centres and charitable hospitals with supplies of N95 Masks, PPE Kits, 3ply masks, bedsheets, hand sanitisers (1 litre) and other resources. See: https://docs.google.com/.../1f9dTLbL.../edit...)
https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-anyone-in-need... (Helping underprivileged families with covid-19 treatment. The funds shall be transferred directly to the mutual aid beneficiary(s) against valid documents such as medical/hospital/pharmacy bills.)
https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-mumbai-dabbawala (Raises money for the dabbawalas of Bombay, who have been out of work during the pandemic and lockdown)
https://www.bhopal.org/about-us/sambhavna-clinic (Sambhavna Clinic, who have worked for overall health and wellbeing of the survivors of the Bhopal Gas Disaster, are raising funds for Covid-19 treatment)
https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/getHelpNow (HelpNow is an Initiative by young students providing a safe, 24x7 logistics network for transporting COVID patients/suspects, Drugs, Phlebotomists, Healthcare workers (docs, nurses) and Blood/Organs/Medical supplies in India.)
https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-hbs-hospital
("The rates being charged by HBS for private/ cash patients is similar to the govt. mandated rates for govt. quota, and a significant deduction of the ceiling rates allowed by the government for private cash patients. This goes with our philosophy to reduce cost and burden of treatment for all patients. Further, additional discounts are given on case by case basis. If the patient is very poor and unable to pay the pending bill, funds are raised to clear the bills, thus ensuring no compromise on quality.")
https://fundraisers.giveindia.org/.../khaanachahiye...
("Khaana Chahiye Foundation started as a citizen-led campaign in March 2020 to meet the immediate, lockdown-induced food demands of the homeless, migrant workers, daily wage labourers, and other vulnerable populations in the city of Mumbai. A campaign that was powered by the city of Mumbai, was able to serve 46 lakh meals and distribute more than 20,000 grocery kits. Our migrant relief operation served 6 lakh migrants travelling by railways and road at Mumbai’s 4 key exit points. We soon evolved into a volunteer-driven organization striving to eliminate the problem of hunger in the city. ")

Kumbh 2021: Astrology, Mortality and the Indifference to Life of Leaders and Stars The Kumbh is held every 12 years but the Haridwar mela comes 11 years after the last because the Centre and the state government chose to appease astrologers rather than look after public health.

Please be careful, everyone.

How India Went From A Ray Of Hope To A World Record For Most COVID Cases In A Day India's COVID-19 caseload plummeted to record lows in February. Now a startling spike is causing health systems — and possibly law and order — to break down. What went wrong?