Comfortably Numb

BOOKS: Q & A with MANREET SODHI SOMESHWAR

`My novel explores how a society riven by a seemingly-unending spiral of violence, needs to open up to the stories of its survivors and fold them into its national and social history.` Manreet Sodhi Someshwar`s The Radiance of a Thousand Suns revisits the atrocities faced by the Sikh community, both at the time of…

BOOK REVIEW: THE RADIANCE OF A THOUSAND SUNS by MANREET SODHI SOMESHWAR

Poignant memories A young Sikh woman in NYC tries to deal with the inheritance of particularly painful memories When the winds of independence blew in 1947, it carried within it a monster gale that wreaked damage on Punjab and its people. Thirty-seven years later, those marauding wind storms visited Punjabis yet again, this time in…

BOOK REVIEW: SUNDAY HERALD/IS THERE STILL SEX IN THE CITY By CANDACE BUSHNELL

Chick-lit for older chicks? Here, relationships and ageing are more engaging than either sex or the city. With its standout title, Candace Bushnell`s memoir Is There Still Sex In The City? sets up some major expectations, of beautifully made-up, expensively dressed young women dealing with the trials and tribulations of love, sex and everything in…

Brief Takes: Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

QUICHOTTE by Salman Rushdie. Penguin Books India. I never ever thought it`d come to this. That, after a complete and total infatuation with the works of S. Rushdie that has lasted many long years, I would actually find anything written by him tiresome. But the overly verbose Quichotte tired me out. Why, why, why should…

Brief Takes: Animalia Indica, edited by Sumana Roy

ANIMALIA INDICA, The Finest Animal Stories in Indian Literature. Edited by Sumana Roy. Aleph Books. What a treat this book is! Opening with that absolute classic, Kipling`s Rikki- Tikki-Tavi, the imagery of which stays in the head well after the reader has finished the story, the book offers up a great melange of tales of…

TRAVEL: PRAGUE`S WALL OF LOVE AND PROTEST

All you need is love… The John Lennon Wall in Prague is a wall with a storied history In a city filled with stunningly beautiful monuments, a Gothic bridge of much atmospheric antiquity, a languid river, a sprawling Palace complex, the John Lennon Wall is a bit of an anomaly. But there is no doubt…

COMING-OF-AGE STORY BOOKS ‘The Far Field’ review: A postcard in red and gold Sheila Kumar SEPTEMBER 07, 2019 An unexpectedly nuanced look at Kashmir from down south Madhuri Vijay’s first novel is a beautifully nuanced tale in these times of no nuance. The author dunks us deep into the family scrum of the protagonist,…

BOOK REVIEW: SUNDAY HERALD/UPON A SLEEPLESS ISLE by ANDREW FIDEL FERNANDO

Book Review: Upon a Sleepless Isle Sheila Kumar, SEP 08 2019 Sweet and hot sambol As I ate a vegetable-stuffed roti sitting on the rock, an East Asian couple spotted me and became transfixed, in the way safari-goers might upon seeing rare wildlife. At first they viewed and photographed me from a safe distance, wary,…

FEATURE: THE VOICE OF FASHION/THE THORTH TURNS HAUTE!

FABRIC OF INDIA / OPINION The Malayali Towel’s 15 Minutes of Fame by Sheila Kumar 6 Min Read September 5, 2019 Kerala’s ubiquitous, uber-thin towels get an amazing upgrade, much to the bemusement of Malayalis around the world What can I say? It’s like your old blush-pink velour pyjamas are suddenly trending like mad on every…

Brief Takes: Under Something of a Cloud by Dom Moraes

Just finished Under Something of a Cloud, (Speaking Tiger Books), a collection of travel essays from the fluid pen of the late Dom Moraes. These were the words that had me reaching out for my dictionary; some I knew but wanted to check their meaning once again: Appurtenances. Assever. Anfractuous. Enfiladed (by mist). Their hirpling…