Surbhi Gupta

New Delhi, New York

South Asia Editor at New Lines Magazine

Freelance Writer at Freelance

South Asia Editor @newlinesmag. Past: @ColumbiaJournMA, Features @IndianExpress, Print @ACJIndia. Delhi girl. SRKian. Viratian.

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Articles

Cultural Ties Binding India and Pakistan Face Unprecedented Strain

1 week ago | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta

In the wake of deadly bombing and shooting attacks in Mumbai, India, in November 2008, anti-Pakistan sentiments surged in the country. Shortly afterward, in 2009, one of the most revered Sufi devotional music ensembles in Pakistan, Fareed Ayaz, Abu Muhammad Qawwal and Brothers, celebrated globally for their mastery of the form known as qawwali, arrived in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru to perform at a cultural festival.
Are India and Pakistan Edging Closer to the Brink of War?

4 weeks ago | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta

Tensions are running high in India and Pakistan as the two nuclear-armed countries face a situation close to war, after one of the worst clashes between them in more than two decades. India has blamed Pakistan for the April 22 attack in Kashmir that claimed the lives of 26 civilians, mostly Hindu tourists, but Islamabad has denied involvement, leading to a historic low point in relations.
India is Reeling as the Illusion of Normalcy Dissolves in Kashmir

1 month ago | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta

A week after Indian naval officer Vinay Narwal and Himanshi Sowami got married on April 16, he was dead. The couple wanted to visit Switzerland for their honeymoon, but since he did not get permission to travel abroad from the naval authorities, they went instead to Kashmir, a popular tourist spot.
A New Book Tells Stories of Love and Longing Under Lockdown in Kashmir

Feb 14, 2025 | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta

On the night of Aug. 4, 2019, Khawar and Iqra were on one of their routine calls but were extremely scared. Rumors had been floating around in Kashmir that the Indian government would annul Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and that the act could result in a war. The article served as the basis for Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to the Union of India in 1947, and granted the region its special semiautonomous status. There were reasons to believe the rumors at that time.
Musk and MAGA Fight Over Visas - New Lines Magazine

Jan 8, 2025 | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta |Alec D'Angelo

The H-1B program that enables highly skilled immigration and has significantly benefited Indian Americans has caused controversy between Trump’s supporters and his advisers
In India, Rape Culture Continues Unabated

Sep 18, 2024 | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta

A month after the rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata, the country continues to grapple with the realities of gender-based violence Whenever rape makes the news in India, one particularly horrific instance is brought up. In the winter of 2012, a 22-year-old woman was brutally raped on a bus by six men after a movie night with a friend. Her injuries were so gruesome that she died two weeks later and the details so gory that widespread protests were sparked across the country.
A Film About an Indian Migrant in Saudi Arabia Has Sparked Controversy

Aug 28, 2024 | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta

In 2008, the Malayalam writer Benny Daniel, known by the pen name Benyamin, published his first novel “Aadujeevitham.” Later translated into English as “Goat Days,” it punctured the image of the Gulf Dream for many in southern India. Starting in the 1970s, the southern Indian state of Kerala experienced a “Gulf boom” as people migrated to the region en masse in search of work.
Indian Films Are Showing the Realities of Life for the Country’s Housewives

Jun 26, 2024 | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta

In 2012, when the Indian actor Sridevi, a glamorous star of the 1980s and ’90s, decided to play the role of a housewife in her comeback film “English Vinglish,” it surprised audiences and the industry alike. It wasn’t that they had not seen a housewife in a film before, but the characters were either obedient, devoted wives or ailing but tender mothers — mere supporting characters on the peripheries.
Why the Indian Election Results Present Modi With a Defeat Within a Win

Jun 7, 2024 | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta

A stock market crash, a lost majority and major upsets for the Bharatiya Janata Party make this a bittersweet victory Listen to this story“A defeat that feels like a win, and a win that feels like a defeat” — this is how Indians have summarized one of the most unexpected election results in India’s political history. Exit polls predicted that a win would be a cakewalk for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with over 353 seats. Some even predicted 400 seats.
An Indian Singer Stirs Mubarak Nostalgia for Egyptians

May 8, 2024 | newlinesmag.com | Surbhi Gupta

In January, the Indian singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya was invited as a special guest on an episode of “Indian Idol,” the popular singing competition television series. Bhattacharya is one of the playback singers who lend their voices to actors in Indian movies. He has sung some of the most iconic songs of the ’90s and 2000s in Bollywood and is popularly known as superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s voice, having rendered it in over 30 songs.