Poulomi Banerjee is assistant editor at Hindustan Times.A journalist with over a decade’s experience, Poulomi has reported on varied subject, but human rights and gender issues are her preferred areas of work
Articles by Poulomi Banerjee
Shy, intelligent student with ‘big handwriting’: IIT professors remember Google CEO Sundar Pichai
Former professors of Google CEO Sundar Pichai remember him as “shy, quiet , but extremely intelligent” in class
Updated on Aug 26, 2018 01:47 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Here comes the juggernaut! Behind the scenes of Puri’s famous Rath Yatra festival
All eyes are on Jagannath at the annual Rath Yatra in Puri. But behind the festival is an army of sevaks, whose families have helped keep this temple tradition alive for generations
Updated on Jul 17, 2018 03:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
The soul of Sabarmati: As the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad completes its centenary year, a look at the place it had in the Mahatma’s life
The Satyagraha Ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati was founded by Gandhi on June 17, 1917.
Updated on Jun 19, 2018 07:37 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
With email, tweets and Facebook posts dominating our exchanges, what happened to good, old-fashioned talking?
With email, 280-character tweets and quick Facebook posts dominating our daily exchanges, what happened to good, old-fashioned talking?
Updated on Jun 04, 2018 03:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
The troubled Taj: Whose monument is it, anyway?
The UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and the Archaeological Survey of India are locked in a legal battle for rights over the Taj Mahal. But what is a waqf, and should the heritage mausoleum be one?
Updated on Jul 27, 2018 07:55 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Building an Indian bank: PNB’s Swadeshi roots
Punjab National Bank may have become synonymous with the Nirav Modi scam today, but in the late 19th century, the bank was a dream shared by Swadeshi pioneers of pre-Independent India
Updated on Apr 07, 2018 06:53 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
“I don’t act, I make others act”, says director Goutam Ghose who has a cameo in Majid Majidi’s Beyond The Clouds
Ghose is all praise for the Iranian filmmaker and the entire unit of Beyond The Clouds
Updated on Mar 31, 2018 04:18 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Setting the nation to rights: From prison reforms to refugee rights, 25 years of the NHRC
The National Human Rights Commission completes 25 years this year. As an advisory body, the Commission has acted as a moral force on the State and seen some successes, even as it has faced failures. What needs to be done to make it a truly effective agency?
Updated on Mar 25, 2018 01:21 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Digging Deep: Ongoing excavation at Purana Qila reveals new chapter in history of Delhi
An ongoing excavation at the Purana Qila in Delhi has revealed remains of a pre-Mauryan era settlement from the 6th-4th century BCE. But archaeologists still haven’t found any evidence of Indraprastha, the fabled city of the Mahabharata, here.
Updated on Mar 19, 2018 12:46 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
A wrong sense of honour: The disturbing glorification of jauhar in Padmini’s Chittorgarh
The release of Padmaavat has led to a renewed idealisation of jauhar in Chittorgarh. Historians, women’s rights activists call out the dangers of its glorification in today’s world.
Updated on Feb 20, 2018 11:17 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
The Rohingya crisis: More than theological, it’s time for informed political response
A session on the Rohingyas - which had writer-journalist Salil Tripathi in conversation with writer-journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Jeffrey Gettleman, journalist Nick Perry, writer-journalist Praveen Swami and public health professional Shelley Thakral - at the Jaipur Literature Festival, examined the many angles to the human rights crisis.
Updated on Jan 29, 2018 07:47 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Jaipur | Poulomi Banerjee
India’s problem with Pakistan: History of partition, right-wing radicalisation
A discussion on South Asia at the Jaipur Literature Festival concluded that SAARC could move forward only if Pakistan and India resolved their differences.
Updated on Jan 29, 2018 11:53 AM IST
Hindustan Times, Jaipur | Poulomi Banerjee
How close is Bridget Jones to Helen Fielding, her creator? JLF 2018 seeks answers
Helen Fielding, the creator of Bridget Jones’s Diaries, reveals that many of the character’s awkward moments were inspired by her own experiences. She regaled her audience at the Jaipur Literature Festival recounting tales of how the character was born and her own similarities with her.
Updated on Jan 28, 2018 06:05 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Jaipur | Poulomi Banerjee
King of pulp fiction Surendra Mohan Pathak on his characters Sunil, Sudhir and Vimal
Surendra Mohan Pathak, who has written nearly 300 crime novels in Hindi, spoke of how he created some of his most memorable protagonists. He released the first of what will be a three-part autobiography, Na Bairi Na Koi Begana at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Updated on Feb 01, 2018 02:18 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Jaipur | Poulomi Banerjee
Shashi Tharoor on Hindutva vs Hinduism: It’s time other Hindus took back our faith
The politician and author wondered how a “wonderfully capricious” and liberal faith like Hinduism could be reduced by some to a mere badge of identity.
Updated on Jan 28, 2018 05:11 PM IST
HIndustan Times, Jaipur | Poulomi Banerjee
India’s invisible widows: It’s time for a separate kind of feminism in rural India
A session titled Visible Work, Invisible Women, on the work done by women featuring Kota Neelima and Namita Waikar at the Jaipur Literature Festival highlighted how Vidarbha farmers’ widows coped with life and their dependence on patriarchy.
Updated on Jan 27, 2018 01:15 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Jaipur | Poulomi Banerjee
On my first visit to India, I found Delhi more conservative than Kabul: Hamid Karzai
Former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai reminisced about being a student in India, his years as president, and charmed the audience by singing snatches of a Hindi film song during a session at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Friday.
Updated on Jan 26, 2018 07:44 PM IST
Hindustan Times, Jaipur | Poulomi Banerjee
JLF 2018: No cutting this umbilical cord, says author Sethu on India’s bond with Israel
A session featuring Jewish Indian writing focused on the twin pulls of India and Israel.
Updated on Jan 25, 2018 06:13 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
The silence of the looms: Will the interest in Anushka’s Banarasi be enough to revive the ailing handloom industry of Varanasi?
When Anushka Sharma wore a Banarasi sari for her wedding reception, the nation was mesmerised. But what is the condition of the city’s weavers who create those legendary saris?
Updated on Jan 21, 2018 06:23 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Finding the Buddha in you: An exhibition of Buddhist art in town seeks to convey the artists’ spiritual quest
Benevolent Gaze: Buddhist Imprints In Art puts on display a collection of about 50 artworks, comprising paintings, sculpture, ceramics, photography and installations
Updated on Jan 06, 2018 10:43 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Media walks a fine line while reporting on crimes like rape, sexual assault
There is a common consensus that in the past few years, there has been an increase in the media coverage of rape. The peak, most people agree, came with the brutal gang rape on December 16, 2012.
Updated on Dec 16, 2017 03:27 PM IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | Poulomi Banerjee
Discussing murder, abduction over chai-pakoda: My experience of meeting former Chambal dacoits
It is difficult to feel scared of these former bandits when they look and behave like grandfathers.
Updated on Nov 26, 2017 05:34 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Inspired by Chambal’s outlaws: Films that have defined the dacoit for us
The dakus of Chambal have inspired many Bollywood films, mainly in the 1960s and 70s . Here are some of them.
Updated on Nov 26, 2017 12:10 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Why Chambal’s dacoits didn’t ride into the sunset
Once upon a time, armed dacoits – or baghis as they are known locally – spelt terror in Chambal. After serving jail terms, they now lead quiet lives as farmers and respected village elders, dispelling myths about their violent past.
Updated on Dec 07, 2017 05:54 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
For female DU students, it’s safety before choice of college: Study
From entry decisions to actual working on the job, the threat of sexual harassment is a debilitating barrier.
Updated on Nov 25, 2017 04:09 PM IST
New Delhi, Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Why Dracula fails to get a bite of India but atmas, dayans make us shiver
November 8 was the 170th birth anniversary of Dracula writer Bram Stoker. The book was published 120 years ago. But though Count Dracula is a powerful figure in horror films in the West, and also enjoys popularity here, are vampires missing from Indian folklore and popular culture?
Updated on Nov 12, 2017 06:30 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
For the love of literature: Penguin Fever 2017 celebrates books and ideas
The annual literary festival offers a library-cum-store in the morning for book lovers and a bouquet of panel discussions in the evening
Updated on Oct 28, 2017 10:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
History lesson for Sangeet Som: Why Taj Mahal needs our loving care
The Taj Mahal, one of the world’s most iconic monuments, has been in the eye of a political storm. Here’s why it needs constant attention: it has seen a drop in tourists and must be protected from pollution and the ravages of time
Updated on Oct 16, 2017 02:32 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
The light-managers of Chandannagar
The fabled lights of Chandannagar now illuminate festivals across India, not just Kolkata’s Durga Puja celebrations
Updated on Oct 03, 2017 03:06 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee
Cleaning your s***: The story and tragedy of people who clean sewers
In Delhi, ten sanitation workers have died in little over a month.
Updated on Sep 20, 2017 01:13 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poulomi Banerjee, Puneet Verma and Ravi Choudhary