Sandip Roy

Sandip Roy is the author of the novel "Don't Let Him Know" and senior editor at Firstpost.com. Based in Kolkata, he is a commentator for New America Media.

India’s tramway turned 150. But it’s on its last legs.

March 21, 2023Infrastructure

Kolkata’s 150-year-old tram system is limping along. It’s down to just two lines and there is little political will, or room in the city’s crowded streets, to bring the streetcars back to their former glory days. The tram does have a small but loyal band of supporters who want to keep it alive.

Kolkata's artists had to burn the midnight oil to get their Durga pujas ready early for the special art preview for visiting dignitaries.

Art and religion remix at this goddess festival in Kolkata

September 28, 2022Religion

The ghost known as Kollivay Pey, by Shyam, featured in the book "Ghosts, Demons and Monsters of India."

Haunted India: A new ghost compendium features 700 creatures from A to Z

October 29, 2021Belief

A child looks up at a TV screen with several apps to choose from at his home in New Delhi, India.

India’s ‘streaming dream’ may dim with new digital regulations

April 14, 2021Arts, Culture & Media

People wearing protective gear worship in front of a 10-armed ornate goddess idol on a platform.

‘No mask, no goddess’: Kolkata reimagines Durga Puja festival amid pandemic

October 22, 2020Religion

Women practice yoga in front of Beatles-themed displays at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh

50 years on, India is celebrating the Beatles’ infamous trip to the country

March 2, 2018Culture

When the Beatles embarked on their famous discovery of India to study transcendental meditation, the Indian government was far more wary.

The newly created country of Pakistan continued to use stamps printed by the British, but stamped them with the name Pakistan, until new stamps could be printed.

It’s been 70 years since India’s Partition. There’s finally a museum devoted to it.

August 16, 2017Conflict

India has a new museum devoted to its Partition with Pakistan. Organizers say they want to collect stories from people not just in India, but Pakistan, Bangladesh and the diaspora.

American and Manipuri players particpate in the woman's polo tournament in Manipuri in January 2016. They're riding the native Manipuri ponies.

How a polo tour in India is helping to protect a rare breed of ponies

January 13, 2017Sports

The birthplace of modern polo is trying to save an indigenous breed of pony that’s part of the region’s heritage.

Inside India, where a one-month war prompted thousands to be interned for years

March 8, 2016Justice

In 1962 India and China went to war for a month. During that time thousands Chinese-Indians from around India were rounded up and sent to an internment camp in the Rajasthan desert. Their internment lasted years. This is a history that many in India today have never heard about.

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan smiles during a news conference to promote her 2011 movie "The Dirty Picture" in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. "The Dirty Picture" is said to be based on the life of Silk Smitha, a south Indian actress who became a h

In India, the bustling virtual world of porn just crashed to a halt

August 5, 2015Culture

In India, an anti-porn crusader petitioned to make porn illegal — according to him, it’s worse than Hitler, AIDS, cancer, and a nuclear holocaust. The government answered his call, blocking access to 857 porn sites, and immediately faced mockery.