Features Archives - Comfortably Numb

A Camino post

Doing a virtual pilgrimage One of the few highlights of this long lockdown period (and I was in lockdown mode from 16 March) was a virtual Camino I went on, for 36 + 3 days, starting early April. The invite came from our Camino leader Amy Gigi Alexander, she who has walked more than 20…

Lockdown blues: Falling into the slob pit

I find myself gazing repeatedly at this photograph of a corona party (cue eye-roll), a Whatsapp forward I`m weirdly unwilling to delete. What I`m looking at is this pretty young thing in a canary-coloured miniskirt dancing madly, her Goth-black nails on defiant display. Now I can`t carry off minis, I`m not sure canary is…

Profile of a Malayali Nurse

INTERSECTIONS / CULTURE Meet Sr. Florrie (Nightingale) Thomas by Sheila Kumar On the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale, and the year of COVID-19, the spotlight falls on the life-saving force that is the Malayali nurse We are back to singing the praises of our homegrown Ladies in White, our newly consecrated frontline COVID-19 warriors. In the usual…

GUEST COLUMN: THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE/DISTANCING? PERISH THE THOUGHT!

Home Magazine Voices Distancing? Perish the Thought Now here’s the thing: distancing is not only an alien concept to us Indians, it also goes against our grain. Migrants who arrived from Maharashtra by a special train follow social distancing after deboarding at Charbagh railway station during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in Lucknow. (Photo | PTI) Now…

FEATURE: SUBTLE EDGE/ARE JOKES DURING COVID-19 PERSONA NON GRATA?

ARE JOKES PERSONA NON GRATA DURING COVID-19? Sheila Kumar Coronavirus times. Tough times. As the infection is sweeping across country after country, toppling people, economies and virtually the world as we know it, it is being made clear to us that we need to recalibrate ourselves, our beliefs, our lifestyle. But we also need to…

GUEST COLUMN: THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE/STAYING ALIVE, STAYING RELEVANT

Staying alive, staying relevant The weeks of social distancing are stretching on, becoming as elastic as time itself. All the multitudes who displayed remarkable fortitude, a biting sense of humour and admirable pragmatism in facing the situation are now, understandably, chafing at the bit. Think about it. The new virus is the wild animal out…

Lockdown activities and musings

Epiphany: I really am a Shakespeare junkie. Will watch anything written by da man from Stratford-upon- Avon. Then again, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Globe Theatre`s latest streaming, was a fun watch, on…

GUEST COLUMN: THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE/HIKIKOMORI or THE MODERN-DAY HERMITS

Pulling inwards: The modern-day hermits Hikikomori is a severe withdrawal from love, from life, from people. By Sheila Kumar The concepts have come from Japan, wrapped in words, sometimes uplifting, sometimes baneful. There is Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing, an abstraction every bit as delightful as it sounds. There is Kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery…

GUEST COLUMN: THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE/MILLENNIALS AND THEIR MORALS

Home Magazine Voices The morals of the millennial Published: 16th February 2020 Where there are millennials, there must be Baby Boomers. In fact, a congregation of Baby Boomers, shaking their head censoriously, waggling disparaging fingers, muttering sibilantly and not always below their breath. Just what is bothering all these Boomer uncles and aunties? Many things, actually; but…

Kurtoskalacs, the chimney sweet of Europe

Smoking hot chimney cake Kurtoskalacs is no longer prepared regularly in homes across Europe. It has become a touristy treat now, writes Sheila Kumar Is it doughy cotton candy? Is it a slimmer version…