In the lead-up to Victoria’s state election on November 28, a striking picture is emerging of a voting population that is younger, more digitally connected, and more complex than many political observers might assume. Roughly one in ten voters this year will be between the ages of 18 and 24, and with 4.7 million people registered to cast a ballot — the largest electoral roll in the state’s history — their voices matter more than ever. About 75,000 of these registered voters will be voting for the very first time, stepping into polling booths with fresh eyes and, in many…

Saturday evening should have been one of prayer, music, and togetherness at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata. It was Maha Saptami, the seventh day of the Durga Puja festival, when the city’s lanes fill with the sound of dhak, the scent of incense, and the gentle press of thousands of devotees moving from one pandal to another. Families arrived in their finest clothes, children perched on shoulders, elders holding on to younger hands, all hoping to catch a glimpse of the goddess and carry home a moment of peace. The Chorbagan pandal was one of the…