Stories
Read deeper.
Five long-form pieces. The siege at Lohagarh. A return that may yet come. The strange brilliance of Suraj Mal. A morning with a rickshaw-naturalist. The colour of devotion.
-
The Mud Walls That Stopped Cannons
In 1805, Lord Lake's army arrived expecting an easy victory. Six weeks later, they retreated. The story of how a Jat king's choice of construction material humbled the British Empire's most modern artillery.
Read story → -
The Return of the Siberian Crane
For decades, Keoladeo was the only known wintering site for one of the rarest cranes on Earth. Then they stopped coming. The story of a wetland, a flyway, and the people who refuse to give up on its quietest visitor.
Read story → -
Suraj Mal, the Jat Ulysses
He fought roughly eighty wars and remained undefeated. He raised the Bharatpur kingdom from a minor zamindari to a state that controlled territory from Mathura to Rewari. The brief, dense reign of an unusually clear-eyed king.
Read story → -
A Day With a Rickshaw Naturalist
The cycle-rickshaw pullers at Keoladeo are not just transport. They are trained ornithological guides who have memorised hundreds of species, calls, and seasonal patterns. A morning with one of them.
Read story → -
Braj Holi: The Color of Devotion
Two days before the rest of India, Bharatpur stages the Braj Mahotsav — a festival dedicated entirely to Krishna, immortalised in his eternal love for Radha, and danced into being through synchronised folk performance.
Read story →