Dispatches from Kolkata

Fatima Shaikh has yet to find a family like hers - African American Catholics with a Muslim name - all thanks to a man she had never met, her grandfather Shaikh Muhammad Musa. A Bengali peddler from India who married an African American woman from New Orleans in 1896. He left behind three children but few clues about himself.

India’s Supreme Court is yet to rule on the repeal of its anti homosexuality law. But just because marriage equality isn’t on the table yet does not mean a country like India doesn’t have its own way of thinking about all these issues.

The December gang rape in Delhi spurred such huge protests in India, a surprised government had to act quickly.

In India, having a close family leads to suspicion.

The simple no frills boxes read Nahoum & Sons, Pvt Ltd. Dainty Confectionery. This family bakery in Kolkata is over a hundred years old and looks it - Nahoum's is nostalgia baked into a cake.