I read an article in the newspaper a while ago, about the ‘worst things to put on your online dating profile’- one of them was ‘loves to travel’-because who doesn’t? Saying you love to travel is kind of like stating the obvious- very few would give up the chance to see the world if money […]
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Category: Feature
Our First Global Epic Is Here
In the 1940s, a Tamil studio attempted a pan-Indian epic that cost over Rs 3 million and told the story of two royal siblings warring over the kingdom and a woman. The film was Chandralekha and it had a scale that till then had been seen only in Hollywood films. The famous drum scene […]
Why We Must Be Free To Disagree
Last week, it was Shruti Seth and Kavita Krishnan. This week, it is Amartya Sen who is being hounded on Twitter. For saying that the government is interfering too much in the functioning of educational institutions among other things. All it needs is a dissenting view-point to get the Internet mob to spew vitriol. […]
Love, Patriarchy And Other Drugs
I overheard a conversation at a parlour here a couple of weeks ago that has been on my mind ever since. A woman was getting her hair cut, and the hairdresser suggested that she highlight her hair blonde-to which the woman replied: ‘Oh no, he wouldn’t let me. He likes my hair dark.’ Then, laughingly, she added, […]
For a Free And Fair World
“May I be protector for those without one, A guide for all travellers on the way;” ~ Shantideva, in A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. The gorgeous Goan monsoon is washing my windows squeaky clean, and as I’m lying around in bed, I’m suddenly thinking of Sealdah railway station. I was there just […]
Correa :The Architect Of Inclusion
At about 7.50 am on Wednesday, architect Bijoy Ramachandran of Hundred hands messaged his acquaintances: “Sad news. Correa passed away at 11.45 pm, Tuesday night.” For those who had heard 84-year-old architect, planner, activist and theoretician Charles Correa at the JN Tata Auditorium in Bengaluru last year, this moment brought a sense of personal loss […]
Of Grief, Loss And Hope
Confessional writing can tear you apart, plunge deep into your darkest memories and like EM Forster would say, spread them out in the sunlight so that you as well those reading you can know the meaning of them. But there is confessional writing that seeks to understand and resolve pain and writing that just wants […]
Because Maggi Was Everyone’s Backstory
The Maggi controversy has tainted the glow of memories that were formed as an entire nation gathered to watch Hum Log in the early eighties and to salivate over a new wonder snack that was, ‘‘fast to cook and good to eat.” Hum Log was Manohar Shyam Joshi’s seminal story about a lower-middle-class Indian […]
Ten Not To Be Missed Dream Vacations
Over the years, I have chronicled a bunch of places and experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life. This doesn’t mean that this is an all-encompassing list, but each place is unique. They are all in India as that was the intention, except for one in Bhutan. And it isn’t in […]
They Are Not Accountable?
Madhuri Dixit recently received a notice from the Haridwar Food and Drug Administration for endorsing the nutritional value of Maggi, after the UP government found dangerously high levels of lead in a batch of noodles. While a debate rages about whether brand ambassadors can be held responsible for the quality of products, there is another side to the […]
My Life With Rose And Peter
A few years in the Goan villages have earned a morning ‘hi’ from many households I pass on the way to work. I’ve developed a deep respect for the local lifestyle, with a few years with Rose and Peter, at their Addams Family-esq estate in North Goa. Rose is an enigma, smooth faced and soft […]
Bombay Velvet: Inspired Madness
The closest we came to hearing jazz in a Hindi film in the ‘70s, was when Amitabh Bachchan’s dock-worker turned underworld apprentice Vijay, smoked away his foreboding in a bar; and Parveen Babi in a red gown slithered close to him with ‘I am falling in love with stranger’ playing in the background. The film […]