Postcards

A Melbourne reader's diary of an Indian comedy night: Raju Srivastava, Irfan Malik and Ali Hasan had a full house laughing at itself for four hours.

A Christmas letter to Santa from our corner of the world — on what children really want, what adults have forgotten, and the milk and cookies on the counter.

From authority to irony and back: the long, strange fashion cycle of the mustache — why it fell out of style in the 1990s and how it crept back.

A tribute to ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh, who died on October 10, 2011 — the voice that brought the ghazal out of the drawing room and into everyone's home.

From the undeciphered Indus script to Brahmi, Devanagari, Tamil, and Bengali — how India's writing systems evolved over four thousand years.

A reader's review of Jean Sasson's 'Princess' — the ghostwritten story of Princess Sultana and the appalling treatment of women in Saudi Arabia.

Bolly Volley Volume 3 (July 2011): Arup Raha's monthly shower of Bollywood previews, reviews, and unsolicited views from the Hindi film beat.

Melbourne writer Sweta Lal on trading a corporate career for writing — and why believing you can is the first step. An archived contributor essay.

In praise of the rain check day: grey skies, cancelled plans, and the rare gift of unstructured time. Why bad weather restores the mind.

Laneway street art, flat whites, and 100,000 voices at the MCG: a travel postcard from Melbourne, the city that needs no spotlight.