Contemporary Indian literature and theatre increasingly scrutinize the marginalization of sexual minorities, employing frameworks of queer theory and intersectionality to challenge social norms. By analyzing Vasudhendra’s Mohanaswamyand Mahesh Dattani’s On a Muggy Night in Mumbai and Bravely Fought the Queen, this study juxtaposes regional prose with urban drama. Vasudhendra’s work foregrounds the friction between rural roots and urban queer existence, influenced by caste and linguistic politics. In contrast, Dattani’s plays utilize symbolism to unmask the hypocrisy within urban, upper-middle-class families. Collectively, these works dismantle heteronormative silences, establishing that true inclusivity requires navigating complex socio-cultural terrains to foster empathy and social justice.

Postcolonial and feminist literary discourses often depict Muslim women as silent victims of patriarchal oppression. Challenging this monolithic narrative, Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp illuminates the complex interplay of repression, resistance, and resilience in the lives of ordinary women. The stories reveal how systemic gender inequality, disguised as tradition and religious custom, impacts reproductive rights, property ownership, and domestic dignity. Rather than succumbing to victimization, the protagonists demonstrate agency through both overt confrontation and covert endurance. The narrative celebrates the indomitable spirit of women who navigate socio-cultural constraints to assert their identity and survival.

Indian society often considers the concept of homosexuality as something ‘unnatural’ or ‘abnormal.’ Consequently, homosexuals or gay men are treated with contempt for going against the societal norms of sexual conduct. Over the past few decades, media representations, particularly Bollywood movies, have consistently tried to change this mindset. It is crucial to understand how queer identities portrayed in films either challenge or reinforce traditional gender norms. Indian cinema has witnessed a gradual shift in queer representation which reflects a societal transformation and a greater understanding of queer identities. Engaging with a host of gender and queer theorists, this paper shows how contemporary films like Aligarh move away from stereotypical portrayals to offer a more nuanced and empathetic representation of queer lives. Aligarh, directed by Hansal Mehta, is based on the real-life story of Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, a professor who faces discrimination and persecution due to his sexual orientation. The paper probes how the professor’s quest for personal and professional respect and his struggle for dignity and acceptance in a conservative society aptly reflect the isolation and prejudice faced by homosexuals in India. The paper discusses how Mehta’s realistic and minimalistic approach towards the subject and his use of candid dialogues and naturalistic cinematography accentuate the film’s emotional impact. Moreover, the paper focuses on the violation of Siras’s privacy to explore the legal and socio-political issues surrounding homosexuality in India, including debates regarding its criminalization under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. In conclusion, the paper argues that although thought-provoking movies like Aligarh cannot modify people’s mentality in India overnight, they play a pivotal role in bringing about a gradual social change.

This study analyzes Tarabai Shinde’s Stri Purush Tulana (1882) as a seminal text in the early development of Indian feminist thought, emphasizing its radical critique of patriarchal structures, gendered moral codes, and women’s autonomy in colonial India. Prompted by the public shaming of a young widow, Shinde’s work represents one of the earliest sustained feminist challenges to Hindu social and religious conventions. The analysis contextualizes Stri Purush Tulana within the socio-political environment of nineteenth-century India, which was characterized by caste-based inequalities, Brahmanical patriarchy, and the influences of colonial modernity, and examines how Shinde deconstructs the moral inconsistencies that affected women. Employing feminist theories of agency and subjectivity, this paper posits that Shinde articulates an early form of feminist consciousness that critiques women’s internalised subjugation while simultaneously revealing the structural mechanisms of oppression inherent in religious practices, familial structures, and societal institutions.
Her incisive rhetorical techniques, employment of irony, and moral arguments serve to challenge male dominance while simultaneously reasserting women’s intellectual and ethical autonomy. Through an examination of Stri Purush Tulana, this study emphasises Tarabai Shinde’s sustained significance as a foundational figure in Indian feminism, thereby illuminating the text’s critical role in comprehending the historical origins of feminist opposition and the ongoing pursuit of gender justice within India.

Modern language has undergone substantial modifications as a result of social media’s quick transformation of communication. This essay examines the ways in which social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok affect vocabulary, communication methods, language standards, and linguistic patterns. It looks into both beneficial and detrimental effects on vocabulary, grammar, identity, and intercultural communication. According to the study, social media encourages linguistic innovation and originality, but it also adds to informal language habits that may have an impact on traditional language proficiency. Implications for education, culture, and future linguistic study are highlighted in the work.

The rapid growth of social media platforms has brought about a significant transformation in the way language is used, shaped, and perceived in contemporary society. Social media has emerged as a powerful medium of communication, influencing linguistic structures, vocabulary, and modes of expression across diverse age groups and cultures. This paper examines the influence of social media on language, focusing on its impact on grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and overall communication practices. Platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have popularized abbreviations, emojis, hashtags, and internet slang, leading to the evolution of a new digital language. While these changes have enhanced creativity, brevity, and global connectivity, they have also raised concerns regarding the decline of formal language usage, especially among students. The study highlights both the positive and negative effects of social media on language learning and communication. On one hand, social media promotes multilingual exposure, cultural exchange, and improved informal communication skills. On the other hand, excessive dependence on informal digital language may affect academic writing, spelling accuracy, and grammatical competence. This paper emphasizes the need for a balanced approach in adopting social media language while preserving the standards of formal communication. By analysing current trends and linguistic shifts, the study aims to create awareness about responsible language use in the digital age. The paper concludes that social media is not merely degrading language but actively reshaping it, making adaptability and linguistic awareness essential in modern communication.

This research paper attempts to examine the transforming vista of Eco-criticism and Green Thought within English literature, highlighting its transition from a secondary interpretive framework to a universal theme in the discourse of the 21st-century. Considering the current trends in English Literature, the study underscores how contemporary authors are increasingly moving away from human-centred storytelling to adopt eco-centric perspectives. Here, nature is positioned not merely as a background but is included as an active, dynamic force that shapes narratives and the evolution of character.
Using a critical analytical approach of varied literary forms that includes contemporary novels, poetry, and the latest evolving “cli-fi” (climate fiction), the paper studies recurring themes such as climate change, environmental degradation, and ecological justice. It highlights a substantial change in current literature, which is moving towards integrating indigenous ecological wisdom and decolonized approaches. Through this, the change appears to reflect a broader global effort to promote sustainable practices and environmental management. Besides, the study explores the increasing interdisciplinarity of the field, linking literary analysis to the broader environmental humanities and digital era transformations like “eco-blogging” and “biomimicry”. Eventually, the paper contends that English literature in today’s era acts as a transformative space for dialogue, challenging unsustainable practices and playing a crucial role in fostering global environmental ethics and engagement.

English literature has continuously evolved in response to cultural, social, and technological changes across the world. In recent decades, the field has witnessed the emergence of new literary genres and digital modes of expression that reflect contemporary human experiences. Diversity and inclusivity have become central concerns, with marginalized voices, Dalit writing, diasporic narratives, and LGBTQ+ perspectives gaining prominence. Alongside these developments, digital platforms have transformed literary production and reception through blogging, micro-fiction, social media poetry, TEDx talks, podcasts, and travel vlogs. The fusion of multiple genres, such as science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction, has encouraged innovative storytelling, while short forms like micro-fiction respond effectively to reduced attention spans in the digital age. New thematic areas such as autofiction, climate fiction, and mental health narratives highlight the growing interest in personal identity, ecological consciousness, and emotional wellbeing. Digital literature further expands narrative possibilities through hypertext fiction, interactive storytelling, electronic poetry, multimedia narratives, narrative video games, and algorithmic literature. These forms redefine the relationship between authors and readers by encouraging participation, empathy, and creative engagement. This paper examines current trends in English literature with particular emphasis on digital storytelling and emerging genres, arguing that technology has not diminished the human essence of literature but has enriched its expressive potential and widened its cultural reach.

Colson Whitehead’s Crook Manifesto (2023) presents a textured portrait of 1971 New York City, serving as a literary critique of racial capitalism. By integrating Cedric Robinson’s concept of the Black Radical Tradition, Jodi Melamed’s analysis of postwar liberalism, and Walter Johnson’s history of slavery, the narrative exposes the inextricable link between economic exploitation and racial violence. The novel depicts Harlem’s systemic neglect and militarized policing not as anomalies, but as continuations of imperialist and slave-holding legacies. Ultimately, Whitehead’s work challenges myths of progress, demonstrating how modern urban crises are rooted in the historical structures of a racialized global economy.

Saints of the Soil: Sufi-Bhakti Thought in Regional Folk Traditions examines the immanent presence of mystical spirituality in folk literature in India in terms of the works and traditions of Amir Khusro, Baba Bulleh Shah, Kabir Das, Meera Bai, Shishunala Shariff, and Peer Saheb Hyderabadi. The Sufi and Bhakti poems written in the regional language had formed a people’s philosophy that opposed dogmatic faiths, caste distinction, and authority in general. This paper investigates the way in which these Sufi-Bhakti poet-saints have been able to articulate metaphysical ideas of ishq, bhakti or divine love, realization of the Self, and spiritual equality in terms of folk idioms and folk songs for mass audiences. The Hindavi poems of Amir Khusro, Punjabi kaafis of Baba Bulleh Shah, dohe of Kabir Das, devotional melodies of Meera Bai, Kannada vacanas of Shishunala Shariff, folk poems of Shishunala Shariff, and Deccani Urdu kalams of Peer Saheb Hyderabadi demonstrate that these poets were inspired by a shared normative principle of Sufi-Bhakti philosophy that transcends communal, sectarian, and religious boundaries.

This paper focuses on Orientalism through the lens of contemporary feminist interventions to examine how Orientalist discourse is not only racial and cultural but also deeply gendered. It also argues that women in the “Orient” are doubly “Othered”: first as colonial subjects and second as women within patriarchal and imperial frameworks. Drawing upon feminist postcolonial theorists and selected contemporary feminist literary texts, the study explores how female writers challenge Orientalist stereotypes of the submissive, eroticized, and silenced Eastern woman. A gendered re-reading of Orientalism not only expands Said’s critical framework but also reveals how feminist fiction functions as a powerful counter-discourse that resists both colonial domination and patriarchal control. Thus, the study proposes that Gendered Orientalism is a crucial lens for understanding contemporary post-colonial literature and the evolving politics of representation in a globalized world.

This paper examines K.A. Gunasekaran’s autobiographical work The Scar (Vadu) through the framework of decolonial theory, arguing that systemic emancipation from caste oppression requires decolonising the minds of both the oppressed and the oppressor. The study analyses how The Scar, considered the first autobiographical Dalit literature in Tamil, depicts the lived reality of caste discrimination in post-independence Tamil Nadu during the 1950s-1960s. While Gunasekaran advocates education as a pathway to Dalit emancipation, this analysis employs Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s concept of mental decolonisation and Althusser’s theory of interpellation to demonstrate that educational and governmental interventions alone cannot dismantle caste hierarchies. The paper explores how caste identities become internalised through ideological state apparatuses, including scholarship systems and educational institutions that paradoxically reinforce stratification, even through ‘positive discrimination’. Through textual analysis of key episodes throughout the work, violent discrimination, family complicity in oppression, and inherent institutional bias, the research establishes that liberation requires challenging interpellated social identities from both directions. The text functions as protest literature articulating different modes of resistance, yet previous scholarship has not adequately addressed the bilateral nature of required decolonisation. True liberation demands that oppressed communities reject interpellated identities while oppressors relinquish false superiority derived from holding power over communities.

This paper examines the evolution of ecocritical discourse from its pastoral origins to its current state as a radical, intersectional framework. By analyzing the “Three Waves” of ecocriticism and integrating concepts such as Rob Nixon’s “Slow Violence” and Timothy Morton’s “Dark Ecology,” the study argues for a post-humanist shift in narrative. Special emphasis is placed on the Global South, particularly the Indian subcontinent, where ecological survival is inextricably linked to post-colonial resistance and multispecies justice.

This essay examines the intersection of literature, philosophy, and ethics through Dalit, feminist, and modern perspectives, emphasizing both Indian and global frameworks. It demonstrates how literature functions as an ethical site, revealing lived experiences of marginalization and interrogating systemic injustice. By analyzing canonical and regional texts-including Bama, Omprakash Valmiki, Urmila Pawar, Mahasweta Devi, Vaidehi, Du. Saraswati, and Saraswati Bai Rajwade-the essay highlights the moral implications of narrative voice, testimony, and resistance. Philosophical engagement with thinkers such as B.R. Ambedkar, M.K. Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, Simone de Beauvoir, Emmanuel Levinas, Iris Marion Young, and Martha Nussbaum elucidates the ethical dimensions of freedom, responsibility, and empathy. Cross-cultural comparisons within India and globally demonstrate both the specificity of local experiences and the universality of ethical challenges, emphasizing the role of literature in fostering moral reflection. The study argues that contemporary literary analysis benefits from integrating narrative ethics with philosophical inquiry, enabling a nuanced understanding of justice, recognition, and human dignity.

The rapid expansion of social media has brought about significant changes in the way language is used, shaped, and transmitted across societies, particularly among young people. Platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), and YouTube have become central to everyday communication, influencing not only what people say but also how they express themselves. This study explores the influence of social media on language, focusing on its impact on vocabulary, grammar, communication style, and overall linguistic behavior.
The study employs a descriptive research approach using questionnaires, classroom observations, and informal interactions with students. The data reveal that social media has introduced new linguistic patterns characterized by abbreviations, acronyms, emojis, hashtags, memes, and hybrid expressions created through code-mixing of languages. These features encourage brevity, creativity, and emotional expression, making communication more engaging and dynamic. At the same time, they have gradually entered students’ academic and formal writing, leading to frequent grammatical inaccuracies, reduced sentence complexity, and diminished attention to conventional language rules. Furthermore, the study observes that continuous exposure to digital communication has blurred the boundary between formal and informal language. Students increasingly prefer conversational and simplified structures even in academic contexts. While social media promotes confidence in expression, peer interaction, and rapid information sharing, it also encourages dependency on digital shortcuts that weaken spelling accuracy and writing discipline.
The paper concludes that social media plays a powerful dual role in modern language development. It functions as a catalyst for linguistic innovation and social connection while simultaneously posing challenges to language accuracy and academic communication. The study emphasizes the need for educational institutions to promote responsible digital literacy, enabling students to harness the benefits of social media while preserving the integrity and effectiveness of formal language use.

The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly reshaped language education by introducing intelligent systems capable of supporting teaching, learning, and assessment processes. Rather than replacing human educators, contemporary AI applications increasingly function as collaborative partners that enhance pedagogical effectiveness in education, emphasizing its transformative impact on instructional practices, personalized learning, and assessment methodologies. The study examines AI-driven tools such as intelligent tutoring systems, automated feedback mechanisms, speech recognition technologies, and adaptive learning platforms, highlighting how they complement human expertise in addressing diverse learner needs. While AI contributes efficiency, scalability, and data-driven insights, human educators remain central in providing contextual understanding, emotional intelligence, cultural sensitivity, and ethical judgment. The paper also critically discusses challenges associated with human–AI collaboration, including data privacy concerns, algorithmic bias, teacher agency, and over-dependence on automated systems. By advocating a balanced and human-centered approach, the study argues that effective language education in the AI era depends on meaningful collaboration between technological intelligence and human pedagogy. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for professional development, ethical AI design, and inclusive educational frameworks to ensure sustainable and equitable integration of AI in language education.

Indian cinema’s engagement with literature and theatre is not a new phenomenon. Some Indian filmmakers have mastered the art of making stories rooted in culture and tradition reach a wider audience by adapting plays, myths, and literary texts into films. This paper examines the adaptation of Girish Karnad’s play The Fire and the Rain into the film Agnivarsha, directed by Arjun Sajnani, to understand how theatre transforms when it enters the space of cinema and popular culture. The paper looks at how the move from theatre to cinema changes the way the story is told through visuals, music, performance, and narrative structure. While the play depends largely on dialogue, symbolism, and the audience’s imagination, the film presents these elements through landscapes, song and dance sequences, and visual scenes. The paper discusses how these cinematic additions make the story more accessible and engaging for contemporary audiences, while also altering the depth and meaning of certain moments from the original play. Special attention is given to the treatment of mythology, caste concerns, emotional conflicts, and character development in both the play and the film. The paper also highlights how some symbolic and philosophical aspects of the play are simplified in the film version to suit cinematic expectations. By comparing the play and its film adaptation, the paper shows how cinema reshapes theatrical works to reach a wider and more popular audience. It highlights adaptation as an important cultural practice that reshapes literary works to suit changing audiences and media forms.

This study investigates the multifaceted portrayal of feminine experiences in Girish Karnad’s works Hayavadana and Taledanda, focusing on gender, transformation, and empowerment. The study uses a comparative analysis to look at how female characters in these plays traverse societal conventions and personal identity problems before claiming agency through transformational experiences. Hayavadana depicts Devadatta and Padmini’s internal and exterior conflicts, emphasising themes of physical and psychological growth, whilst Taledanda investigates the intricacies of gender roles in a changing social milieu. This study examines the nexus of female empowerment and transformation to show how both plays defy standard gender narratives and demonstrate the many facets of women’s autonomy in their distinct cultural and historical contexts.

Gothic literature has long functioned as a powerful medium for exposing the hidden anxie-ties and structural inequalities of society, particularly those related to gender and power. From a feminist perspective, Gothic narratives reveal how women’s bodies, minds, and iden-tities are shaped—and often distorted—by patriarchal oppression. This paper examines the intersection of gender, nature, and madness in Gothic literature, arguing that madness fre-quently emerges as a consequence of patriarchal confinement, while nature serves as both a space of repression and resistance. Through a feminist Gothic lens, the study analyses how female characters are silenced, imprisoned, and psychologically destabilised within male-dominated social structures. Texts such as Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, and The Yellow Wallpaper demonstrate how Gothic literature critiques patriarchal authority by aligning women with natural spaces and emotional excess. The paper ultimately argues that Gothic madness is not inherent female weakness but a socially produced response to systematic op-pression.

Gothic English literature is deeply invested in the exploration of psychological instability, fear, and emotional excess. One of the most distinctive features of the Gothic mode is its use of nature not merely as a physical setting but as a symbolic extension of the human mind. Storms, wilderness, ruins, and desolate landscapes frequently mirror the inner turmoil, madness, and existential anxiety experienced by Gothic characters. This paper examines how Gothic writers employ natural landscapes as metaphors for psychological disturbance, emotional repression, and mental breakdown. Drawing upon psychological criticism, Gothic theory, and the concept of the sublime, the study analyses major Gothic texts such as Frank-enstein, Wuthering Heights, and Dracula. The paper argues that Gothic landscapes function as “psychological mirrors” that externalise inner madness and intensify narrative tension. By projecting mental states onto the natural world, Gothic literature blurs the boundary be-tween the inner psyche and the external environment, offering profound insight into the darker dimensions of the human mind.