Afghanistan, War-Torn and Care-Worn

Dilip Banerjee was the first Indian photojournalist to cover, from ground-zero, the post-9/11 US-led ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan against the Taliban. On multiple assignments between 2001 and 2012, Dilip documented militias and soldiers, government officials, service providers, and most of all – ordinary Afghans – in the crosshairs of this longdrawn, devastating conflict. Dilip’s gritty photographs and lived experiences of the everyday lives of these men, women, youth, and children capture their fear and their fervour, their pain and their resolve, and their big and small trials and triumphs – much of it rooted in poverty and hopelessness, yet reminiscent of their millennia-old history and rich, multicultural traditions. Afghanistan, through Dilip’s lenses, is both beautiful and brutal. This collection of 170 photos, personally curated by Dilip, is a chronicle of two decades of local and international effort – and the eventual failure – to secure, for the Afghan people, enduring freedom. Daring, driven, and passionate about his craft, ace photojournalist Dilip Banerjee presents news in its dark intensity, and succinctly unravels the human stories that are so often buried beneath the dust and danger. Write to Dilip at [email protected].

When she was eight, Samhita Arni started writing and illustrating her first book. The Mahabharata – A Child’s View went on to be published in seven language editions and sell 50,000 copies worldwide. Samhita’s second book, Sita’s Ramayana, a graphic novel developed in collaboration with Patua artist Moyna Chitrakar, was on the New York Times Bestseller list for Graphic Novels. Her third book, is The Missing Queen. Samhita was also head scriptwriter for the first season of ‘The Defenders’, a TV series produced by Tolo TV in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Prince is her fourth book.