In 1979, Basu Chatterjee made Baaton Baaton Mein and unobtrusively brought to us the dating and courtship rituals of a community that was till then either caricatured or just overlooked in Hindi cinema. Nancy Perreira and Tony Braganza…
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Matriarchal manipulation in a patriarchal world is depicted unsparingly in Usha Priyamwada’s Pachpan Khambe Laal Deewarein (Now playing on Prasar Bharti). The mother resentful of her lecturer daughter’s comfortable life in her college residence because the younger daughters…
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“Start with hope..always start with hope. We went from being a shitty team to become one of the biggest dynasties in the sport and all it needed was one match to light this fire,” says Michael Jordan at…
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In 1947, my grandparents brought three children and the remains of an uprooted life from Pakistan to India in a train. One of those children was my mother. I grew up hearing a lot of stories about the…
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Three documentaries streaming right now show the ultimate culmination of the Bois Locker Room culture. And what happens when one gender is taught to mistrust its instincts of self-preservation and the other does not even learn something as…
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In Sudip Sharma’s Paatal Lok (Now streaming on Amazon. Co written by Sharma, Sagar Haveli, Hardik Mehta and Gunjit Chopra. Directed by Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy), India’s disowned inhabit the headlines we turn away from. A young…
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Take a small detour from the famous Spice Route of old into a relatively undiscovered part of rural Rajasthan and one of the world’s only open-air art galleries. Painted houses fade like painted ladies of old. Their stately presence, battered shutters and pigeon filled lofts disguise an ancient beauty now fading into red tinged sunsets. […]
If a river is the highway of life, cultures and commerce then the Brahmaputra is beyond par in this respect. With the effortlessness of a patriarch, a unique family of man gathers at his side, worships at his feet and accepts his rule with resignation tinged with respect.
Imagine this. You are floating. Like a dreamy cloud in the starry sky. Like a leaf in a cool pool. Like almond slivers on a hot cup of kahwa. Like a lingering kiss on a cheek. You are still, but it is a moving experience. Staying in a houseboat feels just like that. It’s one […]
“So what did you get from Kashmir? Pashmeena shawls, saffron, carpets, walnut wood articles?” asked an inquisitive neighbor. “Er…cricket bats,” I replied. She responded with a huge pause. And then I put the receiver away from my ears. “Cricket bats! Who on earth gets cricket bats from Kashmir? Why on earth will one get a […]
Long time before I found my way to the big city of Delhi and discovered a slice of cake called Black Forest at Nathu’s Pastry Shop in Bengali Market, I knew another Kalu Danda (that’s black forest in my native Garhwali). It was the name of my shady pine forested hometown that the British came and […]
It is easier to write about snow in Wales when your back is being warmed up fat slabs of sunshine and you only have to turn slightly to look at a tall oak preening in its new foliage. It has forgotten its own starvation right through the long winter when it knew stoicism was its […]
In a world filled with alternatives, one more seductive than the next, Grassroutes offers urban India a taste of rural living. Half a century after the green revolution hit India, our agricultural practices are still subject to the whims of the weather; our farmlands have been split and re-split into acres too meager to afford […]
There’s always a place which beckons you again and again, with a certain charm which refuses to wear off even as the place ages with you. Some places never really leave an impression on you, while some stamp you for life. Guess, each one of us has a happy place that comforts us when we […]
Deep in the heart of rural Tuscany, lies the quaint, medieval town of Siena. Often overlooked because of its imposing neighbour, Florence. Siena is a quintessentially, a Tuscan walled town. The heart of the city is the Piazza del Campo, the main square, where the Sienese used to hold their markets and sporting events in […]
What is it about certain cities that makes you want to come back before you have even left? Some cities barely register as you pass through, clutching your Lonely Planet. Some assault you senses, some make you want to leave as soon as you can and then there are some that leave you slightly breathless, wondering […]
The setting: A Sri Lankan Presidential bungalow turned into an intimate, sexy restaurant. Think dark panelling, ornate pillars, flowers everywhere. The food: Fabulous nouvelle cuisine. The right mixture of local and international flavours, all carefully prepared and beautifully presented. Isn’t it odd then, that the only thing I can remember about that meal is the dessert? This […]
As the sun sinks into the cold breath of night, the fishwives of Matata roll up their fishing lines, hang the catch on the handlebars of the motorbike and head home to heat the pan.