Rakesh Khanna
@blaftrakesh.bsky.social
(any/all)
Books, ghosts, math, marine invertebrates. Co-founder & editor @blaft.bsky.social.
Author of Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738269/ghosts-monsters-and-demons-of-india-by-rakesh-khanna/
Books, ghosts, math, marine invertebrates. Co-founder & editor @blaft.bsky.social.
Author of Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738269/ghosts-monsters-and-demons-of-india-by-rakesh-khanna/
Pinned
Rakesh Khanna
@blaftrakesh.bsky.social
· Oct 31
The Bandigoat lives!
7 tales of weird fiction & horror by @kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social, @emelkrishnan.bsky.social, Jugal Mody, Miriam Kumaradoss-Hohauser, Lungmying Lepcha, and Rashmi Ruth Devadasan
www.blaft.com/products/ban...
7 tales of weird fiction & horror by @kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social, @emelkrishnan.bsky.social, Jugal Mody, Miriam Kumaradoss-Hohauser, Lungmying Lepcha, and Rashmi Ruth Devadasan
www.blaft.com/products/ban...
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
This has been the default imperialist position for centuries, so really the oddity was that brief period of comfortable unipolar hegemony where it seemed gauche to say it out loud. No clearer sign of late imperial anxiety than the contemporary return of this old ass monocle and pith helmet blather
On X, a senior U.S. Justice Department official is promoting a post that praises colonization as “one of the greatest things that ever happened to the backwards parts of the world.”👇
January 5, 2026 at 1:34 AM
This has been the default imperialist position for centuries, so really the oddity was that brief period of comfortable unipolar hegemony where it seemed gauche to say it out loud. No clearer sign of late imperial anxiety than the contemporary return of this old ass monocle and pith helmet blather
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
AMERICANS DO NOT SUPPORT THIS ILLEGAL, UNPROVOKED, AND UNNECESSARY WAR.
Trump must be removed from office.
Trump must be removed from office.
January 3, 2026 at 3:19 PM
AMERICANS DO NOT SUPPORT THIS ILLEGAL, UNPROVOKED, AND UNNECESSARY WAR.
Trump must be removed from office.
Trump must be removed from office.
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
I remember Iraq, I grew up on Iraq, I cannot believe we’re doing this again
and this time they are more bloodthirsty, more incompetent, and less interested in even pretending to justify it
more than twenty years later and somehow we went backwards
and this time they are more bloodthirsty, more incompetent, and less interested in even pretending to justify it
more than twenty years later and somehow we went backwards
January 3, 2026 at 7:14 AM
I remember Iraq, I grew up on Iraq, I cannot believe we’re doing this again
and this time they are more bloodthirsty, more incompetent, and less interested in even pretending to justify it
more than twenty years later and somehow we went backwards
and this time they are more bloodthirsty, more incompetent, and less interested in even pretending to justify it
more than twenty years later and somehow we went backwards
Registration for this event is full?? There are 104 seats? Wow! Looking forward to seeing everybody!!
January 2, 2026 at 3:20 AM
Registration for this event is full?? There are 104 seats? Wow! Looking forward to seeing everybody!!
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
Why are businesses and government officials still on that site?
For the last few days on X, people (mainly women, and sometimes children) have had nonconsensual images of them in swimsuits (or much worse) requested by users and created by Grok.
Musk's only apparent response thus far has been to crack jokes about it.
Musk's only apparent response thus far has been to crack jokes about it.
so x dot com’s ai generated CSAM and they admitted it may violate US law and … i haven’t seen in anyone in power say much at all or call to stop using the platform
January 2, 2026 at 1:32 AM
Why are businesses and government officials still on that site?
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
from my ezine 'it's my passion. it's my style. ok?' please support your local third world writer
www.blaft.com/collections/...
www.blaft.com/collections/...
December 31, 2025 at 9:05 AM
from my ezine 'it's my passion. it's my style. ok?' please support your local third world writer
www.blaft.com/collections/...
www.blaft.com/collections/...
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
In today’s depraved beyond belief news, Israel is banning MSF (Doctors Without Borders) from Gaza.
December 30, 2025 at 9:27 PM
In today’s depraved beyond belief news, Israel is banning MSF (Doctors Without Borders) from Gaza.
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
One last hurrah for 2025 🥳 I’ve got a photo essay about street lettering in India, and the importance of centering signmakers and their communities in conversations about letterforms in public spaces in this month’s The Caravan caravanmagazine.in/arts/sign-ma...
December 30, 2025 at 2:20 PM
One last hurrah for 2025 🥳 I’ve got a photo essay about street lettering in India, and the importance of centering signmakers and their communities in conversations about letterforms in public spaces in this month’s The Caravan caravanmagazine.in/arts/sign-ma...
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
“Logon ke paas kitna waqt hain yeh sab sochne ka”
December 29, 2025 at 7:27 AM
“Logon ke paas kitna waqt hain yeh sab sochne ka”
English has: "It's not that deep"; "It is what it is"; "Let people enjoy things"
What are some thought-terminating clichés in Indian languages?
What are some thought-terminating clichés in Indian languages?
December 29, 2025 at 6:38 AM
English has: "It's not that deep"; "It is what it is"; "Let people enjoy things"
What are some thought-terminating clichés in Indian languages?
What are some thought-terminating clichés in Indian languages?
Species declared extinct in 2025.
Includes 3 bandicoots (marsupials, not closely related to the Indian bandicoot rat)
news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
Includes 3 bandicoots (marsupials, not closely related to the Indian bandicoot rat)
news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
Declared extinct in 2025: A look back at some of the species we lost
Some species officially bid us farewell this year. They may have long been gone, but following more recent assessments, they’re now formally categorized as extinct on the IUCN Red List, considered the...
news.mongabay.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Species declared extinct in 2025.
Includes 3 bandicoots (marsupials, not closely related to the Indian bandicoot rat)
news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
Includes 3 bandicoots (marsupials, not closely related to the Indian bandicoot rat)
news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
would someone please buy this book? my publisher and i think it's funny.
www.blaft.com/products/con...
www.blaft.com/products/con...
Conversations Regarding the Fatalistic Outlook of the Common Man
by Kuzhali Manickavel 200 pages. 8.25" x 5.5". 300 g Paperback ISBN: 9789380636511 Conversations Regarding the Fatalistic Outlook of the Common Man is a collection of 40 dialogues that melds the class...
www.blaft.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:02 AM
would someone please buy this book? my publisher and i think it's funny.
www.blaft.com/products/con...
www.blaft.com/products/con...
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
hello friends i made this useful collage of writing advice with rules on how to be a responsible citizen, you're welcome
December 28, 2025 at 6:57 AM
hello friends i made this useful collage of writing advice with rules on how to be a responsible citizen, you're welcome
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
Restocked at the venerable Mamallapuram landmark APOLLO BOOKS!
December 28, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Restocked at the venerable Mamallapuram landmark APOLLO BOOKS!
Thinking about Megan Boyle and Marie Calloway and how I haven't seen anything from those writers in a while
December 27, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Thinking about Megan Boyle and Marie Calloway and how I haven't seen anything from those writers in a while
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
2025 is 98.36% complete.
Countdown to 2026! 7 days.
Today In History (1927): B. R. Ambedkar and his followers burn copies of the Manusmriti in Mahad, Maharashtra, to protest its treatment of Dalit people.
Countdown to 2026! 7 days.
Today In History (1927): B. R. Ambedkar and his followers burn copies of the Manusmriti in Mahad, Maharashtra, to protest its treatment of Dalit people.
December 25, 2025 at 12:00 PM
2025 is 98.36% complete.
Countdown to 2026! 7 days.
Today In History (1927): B. R. Ambedkar and his followers burn copies of the Manusmriti in Mahad, Maharashtra, to protest its treatment of Dalit people.
Countdown to 2026! 7 days.
Today In History (1927): B. R. Ambedkar and his followers burn copies of the Manusmriti in Mahad, Maharashtra, to protest its treatment of Dalit people.
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
The closest known relative of insects is WEIRD! Remipedes live in marine caves (you have to cave dive) and are venomous. Their names are fun: Godzillius & Morlockia.
How did insects go from a common ancestor with these guys onto land? Here's one idea (but no fossils so we don't know)!
#Crustmas 🧪🦑
How did insects go from a common ancestor with these guys onto land? Here's one idea (but no fossils so we don't know)!
#Crustmas 🧪🦑
December 24, 2023 at 4:44 PM
The closest known relative of insects is WEIRD! Remipedes live in marine caves (you have to cave dive) and are venomous. Their names are fun: Godzillius & Morlockia.
How did insects go from a common ancestor with these guys onto land? Here's one idea (but no fossils so we don't know)!
#Crustmas 🧪🦑
How did insects go from a common ancestor with these guys onto land? Here's one idea (but no fossils so we don't know)!
#Crustmas 🧪🦑
Yesterday a @jopabinia.bsky.social skeet about arthropod clades sent me down a rabbit hole (or lava tube?). I learned there are *venomous crustaceans* called Remipedia, first discovered in 1979.
Anchialine cave systems and the stuff that lives in them: wild!
Anchialine cave systems and the stuff that lives in them: wild!
December 24, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Yesterday a @jopabinia.bsky.social skeet about arthropod clades sent me down a rabbit hole (or lava tube?). I learned there are *venomous crustaceans* called Remipedia, first discovered in 1979.
Anchialine cave systems and the stuff that lives in them: wild!
Anchialine cave systems and the stuff that lives in them: wild!
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
Bombay, hope you all will come out for this! There are something like 150 seats and we want to fill them all up :-)
December 22, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Bombay, hope you all will come out for this! There are something like 150 seats and we want to fill them all up :-)
First I thought: great metaphor, but we need a different one for India. It doesn't pack the same punch here as it does in the West, because India still uses tons of asbestos, esp in low cost housing... and then I realized: oh no. Unfortunately this metaphor will probably apply to India very well
"AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more."
This piece on AI by Cory Doctorow is spectactular.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
This piece on AI by Cory Doctorow is spectactular.
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
December 21, 2025 at 4:52 PM
First I thought: great metaphor, but we need a different one for India. It doesn't pack the same punch here as it does in the West, because India still uses tons of asbestos, esp in low cost housing... and then I realized: oh no. Unfortunately this metaphor will probably apply to India very well
Not sure what to make of the fact that Blaft's first translation from Marathi to English has gotten its first review in Marathi!
www.loksatta.com/sampadkiya/c...
www.loksatta.com/sampadkiya/c...
दखल : शोधकांच्या कथा...
दखल : शोधकांच्या कथा...
www.loksatta.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Not sure what to make of the fact that Blaft's first translation from Marathi to English has gotten its first review in Marathi!
www.loksatta.com/sampadkiya/c...
www.loksatta.com/sampadkiya/c...
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
“India Street Lettering is a warm, thoughtful look at the signs that quietly shape India’s streets... part archive, part love letter and a deeply satisfying record of India’s everyday typography.”
Beaming about the feature in The Nod’s roundup of curated cultural finds thenodmag.com/content/nod-...
Beaming about the feature in The Nod’s roundup of curated cultural finds thenodmag.com/content/nod-...
December 19, 2025 at 4:20 PM
“India Street Lettering is a warm, thoughtful look at the signs that quietly shape India’s streets... part archive, part love letter and a deeply satisfying record of India’s everyday typography.”
Beaming about the feature in The Nod’s roundup of curated cultural finds thenodmag.com/content/nod-...
Beaming about the feature in The Nod’s roundup of curated cultural finds thenodmag.com/content/nod-...
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
I try to focus on posting about art and comics and not my complaints about the state of everything but GOOD GRIEF
December 17, 2025 at 5:47 AM
I try to focus on posting about art and comics and not my complaints about the state of everything but GOOD GRIEF
Great to see the Rob Reiner tributes. Just want to point out that the famous quotes from the Princess Bride are William Goldman's lines, not Reiner's. Reiner made a great movie but it's weird seeing everyone credit him as though he was the author.
Full credit for the Spinal Tap quotes though!
Full credit for the Spinal Tap quotes though!
December 16, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Great to see the Rob Reiner tributes. Just want to point out that the famous quotes from the Princess Bride are William Goldman's lines, not Reiner's. Reiner made a great movie but it's weird seeing everyone credit him as though he was the author.
Full credit for the Spinal Tap quotes though!
Full credit for the Spinal Tap quotes though!
Reposted by Rakesh Khanna
When you’re making a book, not everything you’d like to include makes the cut. I had to let many signs go while editing India Street Lettering www.blaft.com/products/ind..., and among them were ads for astrologers.
To make up, I wrote my small paean to them indiastreetlettering.com/blog/sun-sig...
To make up, I wrote my small paean to them indiastreetlettering.com/blog/sun-sig...
December 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
When you’re making a book, not everything you’d like to include makes the cut. I had to let many signs go while editing India Street Lettering www.blaft.com/products/ind..., and among them were ads for astrologers.
To make up, I wrote my small paean to them indiastreetlettering.com/blog/sun-sig...
To make up, I wrote my small paean to them indiastreetlettering.com/blog/sun-sig...