Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata

How did just a few thousand British control the country of India? 

She comes once a year. Sometimes she is jet black, sometimes she is blue, a dark midnight blue or the powdery blue of a summer evening sky. While the rest of India celebrates Diwali with its sweets and fireworks, Kolkata gets ready for the arrival of the Goddess Kali, the one of the deep blue night.

Many things divide a country, but it’s the overlooked, personal slights that hurt the most.

Sandip Roy remembers on of India’s most beloved writers. Nabaneeta dev Sen.  

"..if someone has to smoke brown sugar on aluminum foil, then you need a uniform flame for a uniform smoke."

Abhijit Banerjee, an MIT economist from Kolkata, India wins a Nobel Prize for his work on alleviating global poverty.

An ode to the local trains in Kolkata, moving and harboring life daily.  

A mother goes back to her parents once every year with all her children. That sounds like hardly the excuse for five days of city wide festivities. But that’s exactly what happens during Durga Puja in Kolkata.  Because This is no ordinary mother. It’s the ten-armed mother goddess Durga coming back to visit her home with her four children. And Kolkata shuts down to welcome her back.

Sandip considers the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, 150 years after his birth.  

Amitav Ghosh’s newest novel Gun Island is a story about both two of his great themes - migration and climate.

As the monsoons recede the time has come for Ganesh, 

Sandip, who does not like fish, relishes his annual dish of Ilish, the prized fish of Bengal. But at what cost?  

Zomato delivered a food born controversy.

Kashmir has been on Sandip’s mind lately,

  As crazy weather makes headlines globally, Sandip Roy reflects on the monsoons of his past.

 This week marks International Tiger Day. And they certainly need one. 

  Sandip Roy speaks with author, Afghan born American, vegan beefcake and most lovable teddy bear, Nemat Sadat.

Sandip Roy tours  Borneo and discovers more than just monkeys.

  

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York.

The 85 year old Ruskin Bond is a bit of an accidental Indian,

Sandip Roy compares our current heat wave to a typical “Indian Summer.”

 

When Queen Harish came on stage you could not look away. 

When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die.

India has a new government. 

The Indian elections are in full swing,

Sandip Roy says goodbye to Peter Mayhew. Also known as Chewbacca  

  Manna Dey’s birthday is May 1. He would have been 100 years old.

 On April 15th While Americans rush to file their taxes, Bengalis in Kolkata celebrate their new year. But April 15 is also World Art Day. 

As this year's election season heats up in India, women are making themselves heard.  

What does Sandip Roy miss most about San Francisco?