Himal Southasian

31/08/2026

Months after Nepal's 2015 earthquake, Himal went looking for answers to a difficult question: were we any more ready for the next one? "Natural Event, Manmade Disaster" is our 2016 documentary on reconstruction, its failures, and the systems still not built to withstand what's coming. Watch here:

Himal Southasian presents the documentary 'Natural Event, Manmade D...

30/08/2026

Crackdowns on book piracy, a conversation with Sowmiya Ashok on what Keeladi tells us about India’s past, plus this month in Southasian publishing – from Kancha Ilaiah and Ayyankali to Partition, new fiction and more from across Southasian publishing in our latest Southasia Review of Books newsletter. Read this fortnight’s edition on our website and subscribe to receive it straight to your inbox: https://www.himalmag.com/southasia-review-of-books-26-august-2026/

30/08/2026

In this edition of Southasia Weekly, we focus on Nepal-Tibet floods, Pakistan's hospital fire, India's rehabilitation of Kashmir Pandits and more.

Himal Southasian takes the long view, drawing from our deep archive and journalistic experience to bring you insights that matter from the past and the present. Read here: https://www.himalmag.com/southasia-weekly-nepal-tibet-floods/

28/08/2026

This documentary explores the history, aesthetics and cultural significance of mobile theatre in Assam while offering an intimate portrait of the nearly 5000 people engaged in more than 35 theatre companies, whose lives revolve around this itinerant world.

Subscribe to the Screen Southasia newsletter to get access to our documentary screenings every month: https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/

28/08/2026

Ten years after the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the people of the Langtang Valley show how community and culture are vital to post-disaster recovery – with lessons for a world plagued by disaster. Read Eileen McDougall's piece from April 2025 here: https://www.himalmag.com/nepal-langtang-earthquake-disaster-recovery/

27/08/2026

Flash floods and a glacier-linked ice-rock avalanche have torn through Rasuwa, near the Nepal–Tibet border. Entire villages have been buried in mud, killing dozens and leaving hundreds missing. This is another in a series of disasters underscoring the growing risks facing a warming Himalaya. A 2009 Himal piece explains how ecologically interconnected the entire Subcontinent is: https://www.himalmag.com/the-need-for-a-southasian-perspective/

26/08/2026

As Mohan Bhagwat begins a centenary-year tour of the US, Canada and the UK, revisit our 2016 deep dive into how a Nagpur cultural outfit built the ideological machinery now running India, one affiliate at a time:

Never before has the RSS been more confident of its role in shaping India’s future. (This is part one of a two-part essay)

26/08/2026

Large dams are highly visible symbols of state action. They come with substantial budgets, ambitious timelines and public inaugurations that signal development in ways a restored village pond rarely can. Ankit Mishra writes:

Jal Sahelis reviving local water management are challenging the Ken-Betwa Link Project’s controversial vision of development and water security in Bundelkhand

25/08/2026

In the latest episode of the Southasia Review of Books podcast, the journalist Sowmiya Ashok discusses her new book, ‘The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India’s Past’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN3pGg5t3qg

25/08/2026

Caste inequality remains a central problem in Indian education, yet the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) maintains a studied silence on it. By framing reform purely around "fairness" without addressing structural exclusion, the CJP has left open a political vacuum—one that the reactionary Reservation Hatao Andolan has sought to fill on its own terms. Ankush Pal writes: https://www.himalmag.com/cjp-caste-reservation-india-education/