Rakesh Khanna
@blaftrakesh.bsky.social
(any/all) Books, ghosts, math, marine invertebrates. Co-founder & editor @blaft.bsky.social. Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India https://www.blaft.com/products/ghosts-monsters-and-demons-of-india
Nearly 400,000 views and 16,000 likes on the Women with Weapons call for subs is craaazy Super addictive to watch the numbers going up and watch the weird manosphere trolls in the comments Can't even imagine what real instagram fame is like. Can see how easily it could destroy ppl's brains
Women in Translation Month always makes me want to take a month off to read stuff
Indian teenagers using the word "lowkirkenuinely" is lowkirkenuinely linguistically bizarre.
The god of hurricanes, obsidian, conflict, and the night sky 🌌
Bart van Zwieten@bvzw.bsky.social · 2d agoThis remarkable Mexica (Aztec) turquoise mosaic skull (c. 1400–1521 CE) was crafted over a real human skull using turquoise, pyrite, and shell. Traditionally linked to Tezcatlipoca. A ritual object symbolizing death, transformation, divine power, and renewal. Masterpiece of Mesoamerican lapidary art
This podcast contains an exclusive reading of Kuzhali's very first piece of microfiction, "I See", written when she was 6
kuzhali manickavel/குழலி மாணிக்கவேல்@kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social · 3d agoAaaaand it's up! happyaccidents.co.in/2026/08/02/k...
Someone please please submit an Indian litRPG short for Women with Weapons
Rakesh Khanna@blaftrakesh.bsky.social · last wk.After reading serious Nobel-prize-winning novel (which was great! but v serious) I was hoping to guilty-pleasure-read that Dungeon Crawler Carl book. But ugh, the ugly white dude rascism & misogyny just jumps out, dnf Ready to publish a fun woke Indian litRPG book, if anyone's got a manuscript
Indie Cindy is the Pixies' best record (OK maybe next-best after Surfer Rosa)
lil miss big boy@lighter.bsky.social · 5d agoPost your hottest music take. Mine is New Order is better than Joy Division.
I am often struck by how much harder it is to write good fiction than it seems like it should be.
Who are your favourite Indian metal / punk bands and who has the best t-shirts?
OK, since everyone is posting takes, I will also post a take. I really wanted to like EW's Odyssey translation. Smash the patriarchy rah rah. I just thought it wasn't very good. I'm not a poetry guy, I only studied baby Greek, what do I know. But several things bugged me right off the bat. 🧵(1/5)
YAAAYYY! My special special delivery from @blaft.bsky.social is here!
Somehow ended up down a rabbit hole of academic arachnology papers addressing questions like "Do spiders tie up their mates to prevent themselves from being cannibalized or are they just doing fun kinky stuff" link.springer.com/article/10.1... www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
After reading serious Nobel-prize-winning novel (which was great! but v serious) I was hoping to guilty-pleasure-read that Dungeon Crawler Carl book. But ugh, the ugly white dude rascism & misogyny just jumps out, dnf Ready to publish a fun woke Indian litRPG book, if anyone's got a manuscript
Recently learned from @svroad-yakshi.bsky.social about Naranath Branthan, a Malayali folk figure often compared to Sisyphus because he kept pushing a big boulder up a hill and letting it roll back down over and over again. The difference is, it wasn't a punishment; he did it for absurdist fun
Archita's a fellow writer from Kolkata who recently lost her father & is the sole caregiver of her mother who's suffering from cancer & needs extensive and very costly treatment. She's all alone and struggling to bear the costs. Please share widely & donate if you can:
Archita Mittra@architamittra.bsky.social · last wk.Neither my physical nor mental health is great, but I'm NOT giving up. I urgently need funds for our healthcare, so please circulate/donate if you can, and if you're able to help out in any other way, pls DM. You can donate via Gpay/UPI QR code (if you're in India) or ko-fi: Ko-fi.com/architamittra
A lot of Indian journalists reallllly need to take classes in how to create infographics. I keep seeing these charts about NEET, education, wealth disparity etc that just totally fail to communicate the intended point
My mad hope is that the momentum can push beyond local issues and bring some logic and reason to the rest of the world, too. Mira Nair's son is sitting in New York being called the moral leader of America. What else can young Indians do? Can cockroach become vishwaguru?
I liked this, from Amruta Patil on Instagram. "A tilism has been shattered." It is wonderful to see the outpouring of dissent from millions of people who were too scared to voice it.
I don't usually go for epic wartime drama novels but this is pretty riveting. I was ignorant of the history (WWI East Africa) so I'm learning a lot. One of the main characters is half Gujarati & half African--interesting to see how that's dealt with. (V different than it would be in a Western book)
The real Ming the Clam was about 3x3 inches. STOP with the AI slop misinformation please, I hate it, I almost believed this picture
last day for this my deep-fried friendos
kuzhali manickavel/குழலி மாணிக்கவேல்@kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social · 2w agofriends and most importantly comrades, Waterstones is having a preorder sale where you can get my novel at 25% off. Just visit the site or app and use the code “SUMMER26”. Support non-white, non-dude writers! www.waterstones.com/book/a-compe...
Prepping our slideshow for a talk on Indian-language pulp art on Saturday, and falling in love with Vaanathi Publications' Chandilyan covers all over again (Repost with spelling corrections 😅)
From @drawnk on Instagram. The sign reads "Bhagat Singh: May he live forever"
The political cartooning / poster art around the CJP protests is EXPLODING. There's amazing graphics happening on Instagram. Is anyone collecting it / reposting it here to Bluesky? I may have to start
The Delhi High Court & Supreme Court of India have declared that it's beneath them to address documented mass police brutality against unarmed protesters including children. But keeping unarmed protesters in prison for years without bail or trial IS very much in their (i.e. the regime's) interest.
Scroll@scroll.in · 2w agoChief Justice Surya Kant said that the bench was ‘not interested in videos’ that show police allegedly using excessive force during Monday’s demonstration. scroll.in/latest/10944...
