We think that the era of Print and Plurality is passé in India, however an image of the newspaper stall at Hadapsar Mandi in Poona punctures the hopelessness of the hegemonic narrative on the digital.

India’s expansive embrace of the Gulf since 2014 under the Modi-Jaishankar doctrine is a reflection of Gujarat’s long duree relationship with the region. Mercantile aesthetics and sensibilities matter. Lutyens Baba Log are the elite types, and Bania mentality is passe at at least for them, that is itself a relic of the past . #Gulf

This book is unique as a book of fiction and literature it is also as much a work of history and social commentary on Oman. As a cultural insider, this books inner humanity shone bright as the ‘Sadiyyat Al Qamar’. Beautiful writing and translation on Oman by SQU academic Jokha Al Harthi and Oxford Don Marilyn Booth.

The references to Wadi Aday and Sib, made my eyes tear up. Better sociological writing than any western scholar can pen. An International Booker Prize Winner which should be read by all Gulf watchers.

Not everything we do well, which have an inherent business model ready. However, we can do it well, to create a ripple to get paid. Markets mutate, as do gate-keeping networks and ‘aapna time aayega’.

Reading Dr Suraj Yengde’s interview to Columbia CSSAME and his other public advocacy, with his powerful book which ruptures status quo of academic gatekeepers is an inspiration to all writers who are attempting to write a ‘history for the future’