Pothikkettu is a monthly editorial that ‘wraps up’ the issue for our readers.
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Mythical, Conventional, or Lost Histories: The Islamic and Cultural Heritage of Tirurangadi
In light of a lack of conventional historical sources, Sadik weaves a cultural and Islamic history of Tirurangadi using available archival materials and oral narratives from his fieldwork.
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Watching ‘Malabari Films’ in Bihar: Gulf Migration and Transregional Connections
Even as OTT brings Malayalam cinema to urban elites across India, we forget the transregional viewership that Malayalam cinema has long enjoyed among Gulf migrants. Drawing from his own life, Nehal reflects on how Malayalam cinema speaks to the Bihari Gulf migrant experience.
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Women’s Football in Kerala: Some Reflections from The Ground
In this reflective account on the women’s football in Kerala, Amritha shares her uneasy feelings around the less visible Kerala Women’s League.
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New Traditions: Editorial
Happy New Year! It is a pleasure to begin this year on a promising note. As you all know, Ala[…]
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Woven Legacies: Women Weavers Reviving the Killimangalam Pulpaya Tradition
The art of weaving grass mats is fast disappearing from a small village in Kerala, yet eight women weavers hold the fort against rapidly changing economic conditions. What is at stake in keeping alive an art form that seems to have outlived its times? Aswathy delves into this universal question by telling the story of the Killimangalam pulpaya and its makers.
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The Holy Family Severed: Kaathal’s Reconstitution of the Heteronormative Family in Malayalam Cinema
The recently released film, Kaathal, has ignited public discussions of gender and sexuality in Kerala. But to what extent does it subvert Kerala’s norms around family, caste, and class? Sandra Elizabeth Joseph reflects.
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Democracy Breeds Its Own Violence: Understanding Political Conflict in North Kerala
Ala speaks to Ruchi Chaturvedi, whose book, Violence of Democracy, published this year, draws on years of engagement with political violence in north Kerala to think about the forms of violence produced by the very practice of democracy.
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Vulnerability Amplified: Exploring the Spaces of Migrant Women and Children in Kerala
Despite outreach from the government in recent years, migrant labourers—especially dependent migrants—continue to face social, economic, and political hardships that make integration challenging. Athira writes about these hurdles, focusing on the experience of women and children who often accompany the employed male.
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Scary Spaces: Technology and Horror in Chathurmukham
The ways in which we have come to negotiate with the presence of technology in our lives are multiple and varied. Himaganga revisits the 2021 Malayalam film Chathurmukham to see how the techno-horror genre represents some of the anxieties that surround the pervasiveness of media devices in our everyday lives.
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