Manoj Sharma

How community radios are helping fight Covid-19

Sadar Bazar ponders its place in Covid-19 era

Sadar Bazar, India’s largest-- and perhaps most congested-- wholesale market of household goods with over 40,000 shops , struggles to figure out how to conduct business in the post–Covid world

When work from home is a matter of life and death

Uncertainty, isolation, and economic despair, caused by the Coronavirus crisis, have led to a spurt in distress calls to the country’s 30-odd suicide prevention helplines and those working for them are faced with a new challenge: how to give a patient, confidential and undisturbed hearing to the callers and ensure their own families are not sucked into the vortex of emotions while they work from home.

In the shadow of a Covid Care Centre in Narela, local residents live in fear

Residents of Arayavrat Apartment in Sector G-2, Narela, led an isolated life, calling the area where they live a ‘ghost town’. Then, in-mid March, the Delhi Government set up a quarantine centre, one of the largest such facilities in the country, in their vicinity. Now they live in the mortal fear of catching Covid-19

In Delhi burial grounds, a tightrope between closure and caution

Shamim, the supervisor of one of the oldest graveyards in Delhi, says he has never seen relatives treating dead bodies of their loved ones like ‘untouchable objects’. He has so far overseen the burial of 26 Covid-19 victims.

Log in to a new literary life in times of corona

From book launches to litfests, to book readings, there is a litany of literary events online during the ongoing lockdown. Will technology eventually help democratize literature and give a new boost to books culture in the country?

Art of living through the Covid crisis

Thousands of people from varied backgrounds are turning to art for emotional succour in these difficult times in a country where children have never been encouraged to take up arts as a subject. Will the coronavirus crisis mark a shift in the general attitude towards art?

How children with special needs and their parents are navigating the lockdown

Many parents of children with neuro-developmental disorders — attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy — that require continuous therapies are now having to play both teacher and therapist while they work from home.

Lockdown leaves the elderly without friends, support

Care in times of Covid-19: Self-driven crusaders extend a helping hand during lockdown

Delhities are self-organising a fightback against Corona, trying to create a collective, sustainable social response to the pandemic by mobilising volunteers, raising funds online and coordinating the delivery of food and medicines to the needy, especially the elderly and daily wagers.

Coronavirus effect: Preparing for Life 2.0

Delhi living in the shadow of coronavirus

Delhiites adjust to a new life as fear of Covid-19 grows by the day, businesses temporarily shut shops, people socially distance themselves and go looking for books dealing with prophesies, conspiracy theories surrounding the pandemic.

Is the print dictionary losing meaning?

Sales of print dictionaries are dipping fast in the digital age.

CAA stir spurs demand for copies of Constitution

We, the people Commoners are buying Constitution copies like never before, and attending courses in constitutional law to make sense of recent govt moves.

When Delhi politics gets into auto mode

Reviled by people, auto-drivers are assiduously courted by political parties before the elections. A story of how and when they drove into the city’s political arena

Celebrating Ambedkar, the journalist

January 31 will mark 100 years of Ambedkarite journalism—which continues to inspire young Dalit journalists, who are launching media outlets, carrying forward the leader’s legacy

The ascent of political poetry

Spurred by social media, popularity of Hindi political poetry is growing, and publishers are taking chance with young poets like never before.

Story of a movie and a Delhi village

In Delhi’s Nangal Thakran, a village where Upkar — the 1967 patriotic movie that glorified farming was shot, villagers fondly remember their tryst with famed film stars, even as their agricultural woes mount

Symbol of power and control, a lathi story

When Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, visited Ghorghat village in Bihar’s Munger district in 1934, the villagers wished to gift him a lathi.

Calendar art continues to thrive in digital age

Calendars featuring gods and goddesses are being printed and sold in the millions, even though the tribe of calendar artists is dwindling.

Inside the world of Delhi’s unsung recyclers

The Waghri community, whose women known as ‘bartanwalis’ travel long distances to barter utensils for old clothes, faces new challenges in their centuries-old profession

Local salons in Delhi snip competition to size

As Delhi government announces a ‘Kesh Kala Board’ for barbers, HT visits local salons to see how they are countering competition from their bigger counterparts.

No bright Diwali for this potters’ colony

With sales of diyas and other earthenware dipping like never before, many potters in Kumhar Gram fear that their colony will soon become a museum of lost art.

The rise of the pop-up museum

Temporary museums, mostly show-it-yourself community-driven expositions on different subjects, are becoming popular across India, including Delhi-NCR.

The burden of sudden wealth

Villagers in Jewar became millionaires overnight. But, most of them cannot figure out how to deal with their new found fortune.

Portraying the artist of non-violence

Generations of artists have experimented with forms, materials and mediums to depict the father of the nation and his messages for the masses.

Ahlan wa sahlan: Welcome to south Delhi’s Arab corner

In the past five years, Sarita Vihar–Jasola in south Delhi has emerged as a hot spot for those Arabs who visit India for medical treatment. This has spurred the demand for hotels and restaurants offering Arabian food.

Of Carterpuri and a slump in the car market

First about Carterpuri’s Jimmy Carter connection: the 39th President of the United States visited the village, which was then called Daulatpur Nashirabad, in January 1978 with his wife Eleanor Rosalynn Carter.

Reaching for the moon: Astronomy tours give Delhi’s stargazers a taste of Isro’s exploits

As India makes giant strides in space, launching missions to the moon and Mars, several firms are offering a host of services to make astronomy fun.

Hearing impaired, learning deprived

There are about 2 million deaf children in the country — a vast majority of who attend only primary schools before dropping out, as oralism, and not the sign language, dominates classroom lessons in most schools for the deaf.