Rekha in white scarf

The Hindi film industry painted the actor as a vamp and the other woman. Yet she emerged as a flag-bearer for self-love and queer self-expression.

Rekha, Mother of Bollywood Queer Icons

Dalit man standing by wall painting of Erode Venkata Ramasamy, famous for their fight against discrimination, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (Marji Lang/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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One Indian state’s movement to end caste discrimination changed naming conventions forever.

Why Tamilians Drop Their Last Names

Indian customers are served inside the Indian Coffee House, established in 1942, on Bankim Chatterjee street in Kolkata. A portrait of Bengali writer, musician and artist Rabindranath Tagore hangs on the back wall. (REBECCA CONWAY/AFP via Getty Images)

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How a beloved style of conversation transcended class, gender, and Calcutta.

The Bengalis Keeping Adda Alive

Nepali students hold candlelight vigil commemorating the 10 Nepali students killed in Hamas’s attack on Israel. The group also prayed for world peace. (Sanjit Pariyar/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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The Israel Gaza war has forever changed the world. The community discusses parallels with its own history, how to help, and the path forward.

A Year After October 7, South Asians Reflect

AP Dhillon performs at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival in Indio, California (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella)

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A language that isn’t as widely spoken as Hindi or Urdu is now the default export of the Indian subcontinent.

How Punjabi Music Went Global

Employees working at Greenlab Diamonds, a firm manufacturing lab-grown gems on the outskirts of Surat (SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images)

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India was once the world’s biggest diamond supplier. It now hopes to reclaim that past — with a twist.

Are Lab-Grown Diamonds Forever?

USA players celebrate after defeating Pakistan in a super over during the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium on June 6, 2024 in Dallas, Texas (Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

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A group of dreamers and part-timers beat some of the world’s best. We asked them how they did it.

The U.S. Cricket Team is Here to Stay

Anand Parimal, Mukesh Ambani, Nita Ambani, Radhika Merchant, Anant Ambani, Isha Ambani, Shloka Mehta, and Akash Ambani (from left to right) during Anant’s engagement in Mumbai on January 19, 2023 (Sujit JAISWAL / AFP / Getty Images)

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India is already the fastest-growing major economy. Its richest family is its next biggest export.

The Ambanis: The Making of a Global Brand

Boroline (Snigdha Sur for The Juggernaut)

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The Indian antiseptic ointment has outlasted the British, Partition, and copycats. Its formula for winning isn’t what you think.

Boroline, the Bengali Miracle Cream

Sri Lankan workers at the Link Natural factory sort through sachets of Samahan in Dompe on December 29, 2010 (AFP PHOTO/Ishara S. KODIKARA via Getty Images)

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Fans of the Sri Lankan herbal drink, from Naomi Campbell to Amitabh Bachchan, swear it cures everything from a cold to a cough. Does it?

How Samahan Became a Global Sensation

Eshani Patel, Sachin Kumar, Nehal Tenany, Deepa Sharma (The Juggernaut)

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Money. Fame. Power. Content creators seem to have it all. But for those in the diaspora, pursuing it as a full-time career isn’t as easy.

The Business of South Asian Influencing

 Customers shop at a Costcoon December 15, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Costco Wholesale beat expectations for the company's Q1 earnings with a 17 % increase (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Meet the “Costco-politans” who swear by the wholesale giant. For fans, it’s about more than snagging a deal.

How Costco Won Over the South Asian Diaspora

Local residents and supporters of the Save Brick Lane campaign protest against ongoing gentrification on September 12, 2021 in London, U.K. (Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)

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British Bangladeshis have called the area home for decades. With new development, its future is far more uncertain.

London’s Brick Lane: Banglatown No More?

Shamla Shankar with her Toyota Camry (Courtesy of Shamla Shankar)

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Toyotas are efficient, reliable, and affordable. But for a generation of Indian immigrants, one of its models means so much more.

The Toyota Camry, An Indian American Classic

"Snake Charmers: Prince of Wales Tour of India" 1875-6 (Royal UK Collection)

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How the world’s foremost experts popularized the made-up story of a British incentive to curb Delhi’s snake population.

The Cobra Effect and the Colonial Gaze

Bare-footed India players walk out at Ilford for their match against France (Photo by Barratts/PA Images via Getty Images)

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The country had all the ingredients to be formidable on the sport’s global stage. But one ill-fated decision changed its trajectory forever.

Soccer Was Once India’s Great Love. What Happened?

Victory of Alexander the Great over Poros by Franciszek Smuglewicz (National Museum in Warsaw)

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How a failed invasion 2,300 years ago still shapes the Indian subcontinent.


 Alexander the Great, the Conqueror Who Couldn’t

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Ten years later, Vishal Bhardwaj’s elegy for a land ravaged by violence remains as haunting as ever.

‘Haider’ Revisited: The Tragedy of Kashmir

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Can a country with over 1,635 tongues ever unite under one?

Why India Doesn’t Have a National Language

Ishaan Khatter as Shooter Dival in ‘The Perfect Couple’ (2024) (Netflix)

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After seven years in Bollywood, ‘The Perfect Couple’ star is making waves globally and carving out his own niche. It’s about time.

Ishaan Khatter’s Second Coming

Still from ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ (1998)

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Long before social media, South Asians have felt trapped in a pecking order they can’t escape.

Why We Can’t Help But Compare

A princess reclining on a terrace with attendants, c. 1730–1740 (Cleveland Museum of Art)

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The region’s long history of paan, gutka, and hookah use has made us blind to a major health risk, especially in the American diaspora.

South Asians Can’t Give Up Tobacco. It’s Killing Us.

Dancers preparing for a performance for Language Month at Sylhet Central Shaheed Minar which was celebrated with an alphabet procession in Sylhet, Bangladesh (Majority World/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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The linguistics behind the sounds of the subcontinental tongue.

Is Bengali Really the World’s Sweetest Language?

People eat lunch beside a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II alongside national flags of India and Britain, at a restaurant in Mumbai on September 9, 2022 (INDRANIL MUKHERJEE / AFP via Getty Images)

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A viral tweet reignited an age-old debate: why do some Indians view the practice as a “scam,” while others a necessity?

The Tipping Divide

Still from ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ (2024)

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In a world that polices its women more than its men, the debut feature film from Shuchi Talati offers up a salve.

In ‘Girls Will Be Girls,’ Women Find Refuge in One Another

Deepika Padukone maternity shoot (Instagram, photos by Avani Rai)

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The superstar gave birth to her first child on September 8. Yet, for trolls, she was never pregnant enough.

Why Deepika Padukone Deserves an Apology

‘Colonel Mordaunt’s Cock Match’, Johan Zoffany, c.1784–6 on display at Tate Britain

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From the Mughals to travel influencers, the perception of the subcontinent as chaotic, barbaric, and excessive has never gone away.

India’s “Overwhelmed” Visitor, a History

Bansi Lal cut cane for most of his life and now drives the tractor that pulls the loaded cane trucks to the rails for transportation to the Labasa mill. (Preston Merchant)

Bansi Lal

Ten of our best stories on South Asian workers and their history around the world.

Celebrating Labor Day 2024

Illustration by Karuna Gangwani for The Juggernaut

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Fifteen in-depth stories about the event that forever changed the subcontinent.

Remembering Partition and Independence, 77 Years On

Vice President Kamala Harris looks on as President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a reception for new members of congress, Tuesday, January 24, 2023, in the East Room of the White House (Official White House Photo by Erin Scott)

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Revisit our stories on the U.S. Vice President as she reenters the spotlight for the 2024 presidential race.

Joe Biden Endorses Kamala Harris for President in Historic Move

Nandita Das and Shabana Azmi in Deepa Mehta's "Fire" (1996)

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This June, dive into 15 stories about queer South Asian icons, history, and culture.

Celebrating Pride Month: 2024

AAPI HISTORY COLLAGE

This May, a roundup of 15 stories that celebrate South Asian American life, culture, innovation, and history.

Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: 2024

Nighties (Aziza Ahmad for The Juggernaut)

Nighties by Aziza Ahmad

This March, dive into our stories about women in all their multitudes. Astronaut. Friend. Goddess. Mother. Sister. Saint. Icon.

Celebrating Women’s History Month: 2024

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From whether romantic kissing originated in India to the queer legacy of ‘Bend It Like Beckham,’ dive into our favorite stories on love in all its forms.

South Asian Love Stories: 2024

Lunar New Year being celebrated in Kolkata, India (Photo by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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Fifteen stories on the interconnected histories of China, South Korea, Malaysia, and South Asia — from the creation of Indo-Chinese food to anti-Asian U.S. immigration policy.

Celebrating Lunar New Year: 2024

A woman prepares injera, a sour fermented flatbread with a slightly spongy texture, in a bakery in Addis Ababa, on June 12, 2021 (EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Revisit the often-overlooked, intertwined histories of Black and South Asian communities.

Celebrating Black History Month: 2024

Sima Aunty from Indian Matchmaking Season 3 (Netflix)

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Dive into what makes others tick, featuring Sima Aunty, Tan France, Padma Lakshmi, Richa Moorjani, Zarna Garg, Gaurav Gupta, and more.

The Juggernaut’s Top 10 Profiles of 2023

Amrita Sher-Gil with her paintings (Umrao Singh Sher-Gil reflected in the mirror), Paris, France, c.1930 (The Sher-Gil Archives)

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How Yale was built on stolen riches, why India is half an hour off global time zones, the war heroes of Catherine Duleep Singh and Noor Inayat Khan, and much more.

The Juggernaut’s Top 15 History Stories of 2023

Low-angle view of Indian Yoga guru Bikram Choudhury as he instructs his yoga class in heated room, Beverly Hills, California, February 2, 2000. (Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

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Scams, murders, and intrigue — featuring Saravana Bhavan, Mother Teresa, Sathya Sai Baba, and more.

The Juggernaut’s Top 15 True Crime Stories of 2023

An Indian health worker wearing protective mask at a Homeopathic clinic in Dimapur, India on Monday, February 23, 2015. (Photo by Caisii Mao/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Why South Asians still aren’t working out enough, caring for elders, the hoopla over ashwagandha, and much more.

The Juggernaut’s Top 10 Health Stories of 2023

Henry Kissinger in India in 1974 (Michel LAURENT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)


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From exploring whether Yale discriminates against Asian Americans to Kissinger’s legacy in Bangladesh, this year’s top articles on politics and policies.

The Juggernaut’s Top 10 Politics Stories of 2023

Dior’s Fall 2023 collection during a fashion show in Mumbai on March 30, 2023 (Indranil MUKHERJEE / AFP via Getty Images)

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From Humans of Bombay to Barbie, these were the top articles of the year on companies and market trends.

The Juggernaut’s Top 10 Business & Tech Stories of 2023

Shakuntala Pines for King Dushyanta, With Priyamvada and Anusuya (Raja Ravi Varma)

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From why so many South Asian men are mama’s boys to the lost ritual of soi patano, the best stories on the trends, practices, and beliefs that shape us.

The Juggernaut’s Top 15 Culture Stories of 2023

South Asian moments at the Oscars 2023 (The Juggernaut)

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From the Mindy Kaling effect to how the Oscars flubbed its “Naatu Naatu” performance, these were our top film, TV, music, and comedy stories of the year.

The Juggernaut’s Top 15 Entertainment Stories of 2023

From the intertwined history of Indian and Ethiopian food to how cha became chai, these were the food stories our readers and editorial team devoured.

The Juggernaut’s Top 10 Food Stories of 2023

2023 in review

2023’s Biggest Moments for South Asians Globally

Yakkas: Everyday Exorcisms (Shyama Golden)

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Fifteen of our best stories for the spooky season.

Halloween 2023: South Asian Edition

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The 2014 film pays homage to a time when everyday families — and unapologetic women — were front and center.

‘Khoobsurat’ Isn’t Your Typical Comfort Watch

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How Sooraj Barjatya’s 1994 blockbuster defined more than just Hindi cinema.

‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’: Two Weddings, One Funeral, and 14 Songs

Still from ‘Trap’ (2024) by M. Night Shyamalan (Warner Brothers)

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The horror director’s latest film is his most personal yet. We chatted with him and Saleka Shyamalan to find out why.

‘Trap’: M. Night Shyamalan’s Anxieties in Concert Form

Sharmila Tagore during the ‘’Gata Rahe Mera Dil’' award event at Siri Fort Auditorium, on October 24, 2017 in New Delhi, India (Prabhas Roy/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

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The first Bollywood actor to wear a bikini wasn’t trying to make a statement. That’s what makes her radical.

Being Sharmila Tagore

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Nag Ashwin’s sci-fi universe harnesses Indian mythology and a superstar cast, but its all-too-familiar packaging dampens its ambition.