The 2022 Iranian-French movie ‘Holy Spider’ was a treat at multiple levels. The movie is based on a real-life serial killer who murdered sixteen women in the late 90s in the city of Mashhad, Iran. The pull of world cinema is that it immerses you in geographies and historical periods that create a vivid impression, … Continue reading Holy Spider
Last year, I spent a long weekend in Lucknow. While the cuisine was the main draw, the Shiite influence over the city is unmissable. Large and small Imambaras dot the city and remind us of the relatively short-lived dynasty of the Nawabs that ruled Oudh. (Imambaras, unlike mosques, are not merely prayer spaces but structures … Continue reading Lucknow’s Shiite Influence
