Rice, pickle, an occasional ice cream: What PT Usha’s diet consisted of at the 1984 Summer Olympics

An excerpt from ‘The Day I Became a Runner: A Women’s History of India through the Lens of Sport,’ by Sohini Chattopadhyay.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· Nov 09, 2023 · 08:30 am

Dengue politics in Bengal: A tiny insect has turned into a pesky problem for Mamata Banerjee

The chief minister has been accused of under-counting deaths caused by the mosquito-borne disease.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· Nov 07, 2017 · 09:00 am

'It was the birth I was waiting for': Why urban Indian women want to have babies at home

Pregnant women across socio-economic categories experience a deeply-wounding lack of autonomy in the hospital system.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· Sep 12, 2016 · 02:30 pm

Mamata Banerjee is the perfect realisation of the Left's class politics – and its worst fears

A second term as chief minister for the Trinamool leader is unlikely to blunt the class prejudice she faces.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· May 27, 2016 · 09:00 am

A victory for Trinamool could see the stock of this young MP rise

Mamata Banerjee's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, might not be a great speaker, but the party gave him a lot of prominence in its election campaign.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· May 18, 2016 · 09:00 am

Kolkata's cosy clubs: How Mamata Banerjee is trying to expand Trinamool's reach

By offering dole from government funds to local clubs in the name of promoting sport, the party has been able to smartly tap into community goodwill.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· May 01, 2016 · 09:15 am

Why ‘the syndicate’ is the construction industry’s worst-kept secret in Kolkata

A cartel, with benefactors across political parties, forces builders to buy materials from them instead of the market at an inflated cost.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

 & 

Garga Chatterjee

· Apr 12, 2016 · 09:00 am

Why the Trinamool Congress manifesto is special this time (Hint: it’s got to do with a language)

One version of the document – in Santhali written in the Ol Chiki script – is possibly the first of its kind outside the Northeast.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· Apr 03, 2016 · 02:30 pm

Watermelons and pumpkins: The cheeky election rhetoric in Bengal

Comparisons with fruit, audacious rhymes, rude attacks – electioneering in Bengal is a far cry from the lofty discourse seen today in Delhi.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· Mar 30, 2016 · 09:15 am

What a protest against power tariffs says about democracy in Bengal

A protest fast against the rise in Kolkata's electricity tariffs has been ignored by the media – as also Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister whose agitation politics paved her rise to power.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· Sep 22, 2015 · 09:15 am

'I can't take it anymore': Sights and awful sounds from the labour room of an Indian public hospital

A reporter goes undercover to see how women are treated in a large government facility in Kolkata.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· May 31, 2015 · 09:05 am

Fiery battle between ABP Group and Mamata leaves a smile on BJP’s face

The Telegraph has been stridently criticising the West Bengal chief minister in its pages while diligently covering the BJP in the state.

Sohini Chattopadhyay

· Feb 08, 2015 · 07:00 am