lucent-knight

[lucent-knight]

increasing anti-muslim violence in india. 3 lynchings in the last week in west bengal alone. more murders, more abuse, more torture is expected at this point against indian muslims and kashmiris (x), given upcoming elections and hindutva’s growing obsession with emulating israel. who better to take inspiration from if you intend to eradicate an entire group of people and steal land?

#islamophobia #palestine

[lucent-knight]

you gotta understand that a basic thing of the Hindu right is that their basic position is ‘you have no right to talk about what goes on in India—-leave us to our business and we’ll leave you to yours.’ So it’s a pretty standard thing to see them bring up some conflict elsewhere but they don’t have any actual interest in solidarity, they’re just acting like children. These are people who have said explicitly many times ‘sure we’re devastating adivasi people and their land, but didn’t America do that to it’s natives? That’s a part of nation building, don’t judge us’. It’s not hard to pick up the ability to distinguish these proclamations from genuine statements of the Indian left and I think it’s something you should acquire if you haven’t

[lucent-knight]

tell me you've never actually set foot in a "pro-palestine space" without telling me: - "the pro-palestine movement has an antisemitism problem" - "it's like a fandom" / "it's a trend" / "it's not strategic" - "why does no one say decolonize the US"

#palestine

[lucent-knight]

"here lie those who loved life and could not find a way to live it" x

#palestine

[lucent-knight]

Ok …so…I’m back…it’s been a while and I missed my little alternate universe here.

But who doesn’t do that when u have continuous exams going on all the time.

And I went back to my blog to see my pinned post only to realise that Instagram username is two years old now…the new one btw is @pawaniii_s.

#chaotic academia #desiblr #academia #desi academia #artists on tumblr

[lucent-knight]

#flora #chaotic academia

[lucent-knight]

Here's THE masterpost of free and full adaptations, by which I mean that it's a post made by the master.

Anthony and Cleopatra: here's the BBC version, here's a 2017 version.

As you like it: you'll find here an outdoor stage adaptation and here the BBC version. Here's Kenneth Brannagh's 2006 one.

Coriolanus: Here's a college play, here's the 1984 telefilm, here's the 2014 one with tom hiddleston. Here's the Ralph Fiennes 2011 one.

Cymbelline: Here's the 2014 one.

Hamlet: the 1948 Laurence Olivier one is here. The 1964 russian version is here and the 1964 american version is here. The 1964 Broadway production is here, the 1969 Williamson-Parfitt-Hopkins one is there, and the 1980 version is here. Here are part 1 and 2 of the 1990 BBC adaptation, the Kenneth Branagh 1996 Hamlet is here, the 2000 Ethan Hawke one is here. 2009 Tennant's here. And have the 2018 Almeida version here. On a sidenote, here's A Midwinter's Tale, about a man trying to make Hamlet.

Henry IV: part 1 and part 2 of the BBC 1989 version. And here's part 1 of a corwall school version.

Henry V: Laurence Olivier (who would have guessed) 1944 version. The 1989 Branagh version here. The BBC version is here.

Julius Caesar: here's the 1979 BBC adaptation, here the 1970 John Gielgud one. A theater Live from the late 2010's here.

King Lear: Laurence Olivier once again plays in here. And Gregory Kozintsev, who was I think in charge of the russian hamlet, has a king lear here. The 1975 BBC version is here. The Royal Shakespeare Compagny's 2008 version is here. The 1974 version with James Earl Jones is here. The 1953 Orson Wells one is here.

Macbeth: Here's the 1948 one, there the 1955 Joe McBeth. Here's the 1961 one with Sean Connery, and the 1966 BBC version is here. The 1969 radio one with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench is here, here's the 1971 by Roman Polanski, with spanish subtitles. The 1988 BBC one with portugese subtitles, and here the 2001 one). Here's Scotland, PA, the 2001 modern retelling. Rave Macbeth for anyone interested is here. And 2017 brings you this.

Measure for Measure: BBC version here. Hugo Weaving here.

The Merchant of Venice: here's a stage version, here's the 1980 movie, here the 1973 Lawrence Olivier movie, here's the 2004 movie with Al Pacino. The 2001 movie is here.

The Merry Wives of Windsor: the Royal Shakespeare Compagny gives you this movie.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: have this sponsored by the City of Columbia, and here the BBC version. Have the 1986 Duncan-Jennings version here. 2019 Live Theater version? Have it here!

Much Ado About Nothing: Here is the kenneth branagh version and here the Tennant and Tate 2011 version. Here's the 1984 version.

Othello: A Massachussets Performance here, the 2001 movie her is the Orson Wells movie with portuguese subtitles theree, and a fifteen minutes long lego adaptation here. THen if you want more good ole reliable you've got the BBC version here and there.

Richard II: here is the BBC version. If you want a more meta approach, here's the commentary for the Tennant version. 1997 one here.

Richard III: here's the 1955 one with Laurence Olivier. The 1995 one with Ian McKellen is no longer available at the previous link but I found it HERE.

Romeo and Juliet: here's the 1988 BBC version. Here's a stage production. 1954 brings you this. The french musical with english subtitles is here!

The Taming of the Shrew: the 1980 BBC version here and the 1988 one is here, sorry for the prior confusion. The 1929 version here, some Ontario stuff here, and here is the 1967 one with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. This one is the Shakespeare Retold modern retelling.

The Tempest: the 1979 one is here, the 2010 is here. Here is the 1988 one. Theater Live did a show of it in the late 2010's too.

Timon of Athens: here is the 1981 movie with Jonathan Pryce,

Troilus and Cressida can be found here

Titus Andronicus: the 1999 movie with Anthony Hopkins here

Twelfth night: here for the BBC, here for the 1970 version with Alec Guinness, Joan Plowright and Ralph Richardson.

Two Gentlemen of Verona: have the 2018 one here. The BBC version is here.

The Winter's Tale: the BBC version is here

Please do contribute if you find more. This is far from exhaustive.

(also look up the original post from time to time for more plays)

#academia

[lucent-knight]

AKHILLEUS MURDERS TROILOS ON TEMPLE STEPS

while a statue of apollo watches, and the god plans revenge

Sophocles: Selected Fragmentary Plays, A.H Sommerstein, D. Fitzpatrick, T. Talboy [Sophocles: Troilus]

society6 | ko-fi | redbubble | twitter | deviantart

[lucent-knight]

Indian academia

Recently I have seen a lot of excellent posts in the dark academia tags which call out the euro-centrism of this subculture and also give great recommendations for non-white cultural academia. So I decided to put together works of Indian authors that I read growing up in India as a literature student. Please note this list leans heavily towards works centred on Bengal due to my own heritage, and is by no means comprehensive or meant to represent the entire, varied diaspora of India.

Historical/political fiction:

the lives of others by neel mukherjee: chronicling the rise and fall of a bengali family against historical events like the partition, the 1943 famines, the bengal emergency etc. diverse cast of characters retelling history through multiple povs, lyrical prose, incredible research providing an insight into naxalite bengal. talks about how it feels to be a leftist when you are born and brought up in bourgeois privilege.

the lowland by jhumpa lahiri: everything!! written by jhumpa lahiri!! should be savoured!! but this gorgeous book in particular made me UGLY CRY. to summarise without spoilers, it's a story about two brothers, separated by inches and then by miles, a story about student revolutionaries, bengal burning and boston beaches, and it's a story about a beautiful, brilliant, tormented woman who loves and loathes in equal measure.

the shadow lines by amitav ghosh:** intergenerational trauma, dhaka riots and the entwined histories of two families- one in london and the other in calcutta. sharp, bittersweet and sometimes rather scandalous. if you enjoy ggm's works try this.

a flight of pigeons by ruskin bond**: after her father is killed in the 1857 sepoy mutiny, an anglo-indian girl, her mother, and female relatives are given shelter by the muslim family of one of the chief rebels. set in north india near UP, ruskin bond's writing is powerful and explores found families and the price of imperialism and war. chef's kiss.

train to pakistan by khuswant singh: the horrors of post independence sectarian violence as recounted by a fictional village on the indo-pak border with a population largely comprising muslims and sikhs. a harrowing read but evocative and honest.

shalimar the clown by salman rushdie: allegorical story about the kashmir valley unrest, told through the insane, shakespearean revenge tragedy spun out by kashmiri tightrope walker shalimar who falls in love with boonyi, a beautiful pandit girl, a love that dooms him.

a fine balance by rohinton mistry**: four strangers' lives spill into each other as india crumbles under the 1975 emergency. this one has everything political commentary, social satire, depiction of economic hardships and a whole range of characters from diverse backgrounds. side note: it's a pretty heavy and tragic read, please be careful.

Societal stories

the guide by rk narayan: raju, an impoverished, street smart boy in a fictional south indian town takes to conning people as a tour guide but things spiral out of control when he has an affair with a married classical dancer. allegorical writing, funny and eccentric, and there's a LOT of satire about desi stereotypes: fraud religious leaders, scandalous village affairs, neocolonial mindsets and well, dancing. had a great read of this one. don't watch the film, it's inaacurate and the author himself didn't like it :(

malgudi days by rk narayan: set in the same town as the guide, a collection of short stories about the colourful lives of small town dwellers, from astrologers to doctors to postmen. it's funny and poignant in equal measure. there's not a single mediocre story in here, they're all just......charming.

interpreter of maladies by jhumpa lahiri: stories set in boston and bengal about ordinary indian people and ordinary indian lives which are just so, so MASTERFULLY written and in such crystal bright detail it feels all too real. I recommend a temporary matter, when mr pirzada came to dine, sexy, mrs sen and this blessed house.

em and the big hoom by jerry pinto**: a goan family in late 20th century mumbai + their experience when the mother is diagnosed with bpd. I haven't read this book but it was highly recommended by my friends + authors who are greatly esteemed by me

any and every work by ruskin bond because my man literally GREW up around ayahs and tonga drivers and lonely gardeners and sad kite-makers and friends in small places. I recommend road to the bazaar: a collection of short stories about north indian children involving tigers in train tunnels, beetle races, rooftop gardens and the feeling of being home again.

the white tiger by aravind adiga**: epistolary novel that deals mostly with the class struggle in india as told by a village boy, who travels to delhi for work and his slow rise to success through monumental obstacles. a good read to look into the lives and the plight of underprivileged workers and the persisting class disparity in globalised india.

city of djinns by william dalrymple: travelogue/memoir/anecdotes of the author's time in delhi as he researches for the detritus of history in the country capital. non fiction but every bit as riveting as a well spun story.

Retellings/Biographies

rajkahini (transl: stories of kings) by abanindranath tagore: stories about the rajput rulers of western india and their glorious, semi-mythological histories of battles and heartbreaks and visions. the author was often termed a lyrical artist because his descriptive prose is so good it feels like a painting put into words.

empress: the astonishing reign of nur jahan by ruby lal: a feminist biography of my favourite figure from history, nur jahan, and her deliciously satisfying ascent as the sole female sovereign in the line of the great mughals. but wow, what a woman.

the palace of illusions by chitra banerjee divakaruni: retelling of the great epic mahabharata but from draupadi's point of view. poetic and magical, and her descriptions of female rage and the unfairness of society even in mythical canon is SUPERB.

Poetry!

sarojini naidu: patriotism, society, feminism, romance

nissim ezekiel: postcolonial, satire

ak ramanujan: society, classical retellings, folktale inspired poetry

agha shahid ali: socio-political, ghazal inspired poetry

tishani doshi: feminist, contemporary

eunice d'souza: contemporary, gender politics

Pure self indulgent recs

hayavadana by girish karnad: a ridiculous, criminally hilarious play-within-a-play about a love triangle and accidental body/torso swaps and a goddess who couldn't care less and a man with a horse head. yeah.

devdas by sarat chandra chattopadhyay: pls stop shoving the movie down my throat it's the cringiest depiction of bengali culture ever but yeah the novel is 💗💗 and it's about childhood sweethearts dev and paro, the cost of obsessions and lusts and an enigmatic courtesan chandramukhi who keeps loving the wrong things.

any and every work by rabindranath tagore should be considered academia but in particular his short stories, like the kabuliwalah and the postmaster.

the byomkesh bakshi series by sharadindu bandyopadhyay: written in the vein of poirot but in colonial bengal, follows one (1) sleuthy boy and his sidekick as they unravel psychological crimes and murder mysteries. some stories are just genuinely scary and all have eclectic casts. sharadindu said homoerotic/feral women/immoral genius people rights!

Like I said this list is not comprehensive!!! But I tried my best!!! I think we should really try to decolonize our reading tastes. And yes I purposely left out Arundhati Roy (because she is literally the only Indian author ever recommended in lists) Vikram Seth (because I do not like him) and Roshani Chokshi (because any one of the above)

I hope you guys get some good picks from this list :)

[** has heavy trigger warnings]

#dark academia #chaotic academia #desiblr #desi academia

[lucent-knight]

Dark Academia is a complex aesthetic... Let's all think of as many sub genres of DA as we can. A lot come to mind, right? In this post I've tried to narrow some down. Hope you enjoy :) (& perhaps you might find the sub genre of DA that best suits you) ~ THE 1940s ACADEMIC~ These folks don't necessarily have a passion for ancient history or the classics… instead, they spend their time researching The Great War as thoroughly as possible. They wear brick red lipstick no matter the occasion. If you look around their home, you may find a collection of portable typewriters, or perhaps an envelope filled with old photographs of their parents or forgotton acquaintances. Their go-to wardrobe colour is either a rich brown or an army green. Cigars are their best friends, just like their idol, the newly elected prime minister, Winston Churchill. ~THE GOTHIC POET~ This person has as many candles as they do hairs on their head. True to their name, they spend hours writing elaborate lines of poetry, usually not bothering to change out of their lacy night gown, with ruffled cuffs and puffy sleeves. They are confident, flamboyant, & a sucker for Pre-Raphelite paintings. While their friend, «1940s Academic» happily taps their foot along to The Andrews Sisters, they prefer to stare at themselves dramatically in their looking glass, blasting Mozart until their stained glass windows begin to tremble. ~THE GENTLE FLORIST~ (Light Academia) A typical «Gentle Florist» will wake on rainy spring mornings & peacefully pour themselves a steaming cup of mint tea. They spend their evenings with a light read, accompanied by their cat & the warm glow of their vintage floor lamp. If they are religious, they like to help out with charity events at their place of worship. If they are not, they happily volunteer wherever they are needed on weekends. They like to have lunch with their friend «Gothic Poet» although their re-enactments of Romeo & Juliet can get tiresome after a while. Their wardrobe colours are dark greens, browns, tans & creamy whites. ~THE MAD WRITER~ (Chaotic Academia) A strong black coffee always helps to wake this academic up in the morning. They stumble out of bed late after an intense night of scribbling out ideas for plots and characters. They seem to fixate on the prospect of murder, which their secret lover, «Gentle Florist», finds slightly suspicious. Their room is littered with paper. Is that a receipt or an important writer's note lying beside the antique camera? We might just never know. They hate most people, especially crying babies on the train. They are brutally cold & sarcastic, but people can't stop falling for them. Their wardrobe colours are black, blood red, cold white & the occasional navy blue. ~THE VICTORIAN EXPLORER~ (Rachel Maksy has a great Victorian Treehouse vidéo which is a perfect example of this aesthetic) Picture a vast room, its surfaces clad with antique brass artefacts. Things like old gramophones, flashlights, clocks, globes & magnifying glasses. There are maps pinned on every wall, & old atlases in foreign languages amongst yellowed illustrations of the English coastlines. Now picture the person who inhabits this room. They love old hats & sunglasses. Perhaps they have tan lines on their arms from when they were out searching for islands in Micronesia. People say this person & «Mad Writer » had a mysterious past, but neither of them ever mention it. Their favourite wardrobe piece is their trademark, a pair of antique boots, perfect for exploring various types of terrain. ~THE INQUISITIVE MYCOLOGIST~ (Cottagecore X Dark Academia) This academic is obsessed with nature, but prefers to live in urban areas. They draw illustrations in the margins of their schoolbooks/ work notes of mushrooms & leaves & will often spend hours in the local library with their potential love interest, « Victorian Explorer », poring over mycology textbooks. Their favourite wardrobe item is of course their dark brown oxfords, with the laces replaced with red ribbons.

#chaotic academia aesthetic #academia

[lucent-knight]

“Fuck it, we slay” (heavy eye bags, dehydrated, on the verge of insanity)

[lucent-knight]

hampden college greek class of 1986

#the secret history

[lucent-knight]

god. it’s just. it’s dreams by the cranberries. it’s the montage of them all voting yes. it’s orla’s little smiley face in the box. it’s the live footage of the troubles. it’s erin’s speech. it’s the way that the last shot is of grandpa joe and anna jumping together out of the voting hall. it’s the sheer symbolism of youth and age being joyful and hopeful together. god.

#derry girls

[lucent-knight]

#desi aesthetic #desicore #desiblr

[lucent-knight]

Indian Dark Academia - Kolkata (mystery academia)

Kolkata feels old and new at once. You bribe the watchman of Marble Palace to let you in. He looms like a shadow behind you as you take in all the grandeur of the ancient structure. Statues, paintings and busts; it all looks like a dream but one oil painting of a woman stands out. Clad in a pale sari, her eyes seem to hold answers to otherworldly secrets. Something about her seems familiar but you don't understand it. Your gaze finds the year 1841 faintly etched in the bottom and you wonder who this could be.

The watchman clears his throat, breaking you out of your reverie. He asks you to hurry and refuses to meet your eyes for the rest of the time. As he leads you out, you realise that there was something he didn't want you to see.

You wander through Putul Bari and the place feels odd. There isn't much left of what once used to be of this mansion, but the essence of it still remains. House of Dolls, they call this place and you're reminded of a certain friend of yours who had once mailed you a broken doll. You never saw her again.

You find yourself within a sea of bodies during Durga puja. The air is filled with chantings and your eyes find it's way to the Goddess held high. Someone tugs at your hand and you look down to find a little girl in red. She wears a ghastly smile and stuffs a single red rose into your palm. You turn to watch her leave. Was she simply swallowed by the crowd or did she just disappear into thin air?

Your hands trace the spines of the books at The National Library and you pull out one dusty volume. Kolkata : An Untold History, the title says. You soon find yourself feverishly flipping through the pages, processing every terrible thing the book claimed. Queen Victoria had once visited Kolkata sometime in 1889. It wasn't an official visit and wasn't recorded in any historical text. A series of peculiar events followed and there was something dark that the Royals hid.

On your last day in the city, you take a stroll through South Park Cemetery. Your friend had agreed to meet you here one last time before you leave and you make your way through the graves as you wait for her. When she finally arrives, her eyes briefly find a spot over your shoulder before returning back to you. You cannot shake off the chills that the gesture gave you but you ignore it. As you tell her about your strange experiences in the city, she visibly pales. I think you must leave she says and turns away. As you watch her leave in confusion, everything seems to set in place. It dawns upon you that Kolkata is not what it seems like. Art and literature thrived here, but so did dark secrets

#desiblr

[lucent-knight]

Indian Dark Academia - Delhi (mystery academia)

You spend most of your summer afternoons roaming around the monuments, marveling over the minds of people long gone. you find an old vendor outside Qutub Minar, seated with large stacks of books in front of her. Secrets Of Delhi, the cover of the one hidden beneath the rest says. The vendor mumbles its price and you ignore the chill you feel crawling down your spine when you catch her smiling at you.

The dim light of your candle flickers as you flip through the pages of the book the vendor sold to you. The moon hangs low in the sky, as if intent to see what mysteries you'll unveil. What the Sultans tried to hide, stories buried by time, dangerous lores that might be true; you feel the words sear into your eyes. You brush them off as fictional gibberish as you get ready for bed but you couldn't shake off the feeling that you're being watched. The shadows in the corner of your room shift as if in confirmation.

You vaguely remember your history professor mentioning a mad astrologer who claimed there was a "disastrous" planetary alignment during 1757. Exactly a century before the First War of Independence. You cannot help but think of him now as you run your hand over the walls of Jantar Mantar.

You're strolling through the Red Fort and you find undecipherable inscriptions on a pillar of the Diwan-i-khas. You let your fingers trace the letters as you realize that something strange happened here.

The voices of a hundred sufi saints ring in your ears and your dreams are haunted with memories that aren't yours. You catch glimpses of harems and princesses dancing. A sword dripping with blood and a body buried in the hush of the night. Ruins of deserted mughal palaces where you could still hear the voice of a wailing woman. Delhi's beautiful but she's got her secrets.

#desi chaotic academia #desiblr

[lucent-knight]

Pov : he's that 'jab we met' wala Aditya but in a Delhi wala way.

He interestingly listens to your non stop bak bak when you both are sitting in the metro sharing your earbuds and listening to vintage Romantic Bollywood. Always admiring your face as you talk. Says "geet tum pagal ho chuki ho" to your "mai toh bhag Rahi hu" plans, goes roaming around with you, Holds all your bags while you bargain with that one shopkeeper in sarojini nagar goes on golgappas and kulfi dates with you, dances in the rain with you on "tum se hi" near India gate, gifts you janpath Wale jhumkas, his eyes don't leave you when you wear kajal and bindi, Brings that "ye lo jala do" energy in your life when something bothers you. he is a silent lover,He Pushes back your zulfe behind your ears, Feeds you roti sabzi while your mehandi is drying on your hands, helps you with your saree pleats and that's his way of telling you that he loves you,he is your 'Aditya'.

#desi dark academia #desiblr