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Brown History

Uncolonizing the past. Uncolonizing you.

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Waiting for the State: The Hidden History of Queues in South Asia

How waiting became one of the most ordinary, unequal, and revealing ways people across South Asia experience the state.

Aunties Without Husbands, Children, or Regrets

The women we were taught to pity may have understood freedom better than anyone else.

More is More is More: South Asian Maximalism in the Backdrop of an Increasingly Colorless World

How the West’s obsession with minimalism has long been built on devaluing South Asia’s unapologetic love of colour, ornament, and excess.

The Guilt of Spreading Your Wings

The hardest part of moving out is the guilt that follows.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Ruttie: An Unknown Bombay Story

A tragic story that shaped the future founder of Pakistan.

'My Name Is Khan' and the Burden of Explaining Yourself

After 9/11, being Brown in America meant answering for violence that was never yours.

The Real Tragedy of Brown Guys Saying the N-Word

What one word reveals about identity, ignorance, and respect.

The Famines We Inherited: The Colonial Famines We Were Never Taught About and Their Impact on South Asian Health

The Colonial Famines We Were Never Taught About and Their Impact on South Asian Health

Anglo-Indians, Burghers and the Cultures Created In Between

The layered histories of Anglo-Indians and Burghers, and what it means to reclaim an identity shaped by empire.

The Curfew Was the Worst Thing to Happen to South Asian Daughters

How the curfew shaped the lives of South Asian daughters, restricting not only their freedom but their friendships, confidence and sense of belonging.

How Shah Rukh Khan Became the Face of India’s Lost Future

SRK once embodied India’s promised future. Today, that promise survives as a ghost.

Who Sold Qawwali’s Aura?

What happens when a sacred musical tradition leaves the dargah and enters the marketplace?

Is He Into Me, or Just Really Into Brown Women?

The uncomfortable line between interracial attraction, cultural curiosity, and fetishization.

Why are Indian Students Protesting?

How a new generation is testing the limits of state power.

The Types of South Asian Ghost Stories

Exploring the recurring themes that connect South Asian ghost stories across borders, generations, and the diaspora.

The Unspoken Culture of Educating Women, But Not Expecting Careers

South Asian families have embraced educating daughters but empowering them to build careers has proven to be a more complicated story.

Why Pakistanis Stayed in Britain

Why did thousands of Pakistani migrants who initially planned to return home instead built lasting lives in Britain, transforming temporary migration into permanent settlement.

‘Not All Of Us Dream Of Marriage Or Motherhood’

A reflection on separating inherited dreams from the ones that are truly your own.

Why South Asian Gen Z Is Embracing 'Grandma Hobbies'

How the resurgence of 'grandma hobbies' reveals a generation rediscovering the joy of slowing down.

A Welsh Ghost in Pakistani Literature

Sara Suleri's memoir is celebrated as one of Pakistan's defining literary works, yet hidden within its pages is a forgotten story of Wales and the afterlives of empire.

'Where Is My Child!?': The Notorious Case of Javed Iqbal, The "Killer of 100 Children"

One of the darkest chapters in Pakistan's history: the horrific crimes of Javed Iqbal and the failures that allowed him to continue unchecked.

Is "Community" The Diaspora's Newest Side-Hustle?

The South Asian diaspora has become remarkably good at building communities, but also at branding, marketing, and monetizing them. Has our search for belonging become another business model?

How Spirits Protect The Trees Across South Asia

How ancient beliefs in tree-dwelling spirits have preserved some of South Asia's oldest living giants, revealing an overlooked form of conservation.