Comfortably Numb - Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Every Room Has a View by Sujit Saraf – book review

An NRI`s last wish When we first meet Naveen Gupta, it is a few hours after he has passed, suddenly, unexpectedly. Naveen, a US citizen who has lived in America for more than three decades, leaves behind his mother, his wife Usha and a teenaged son, Ajay. And right now, Naveen`s body has been placed…

Dystopia in Keralam: The Red Badge by Rajesh R Varma

Through a glass, darkly In the Booker 23 prize-winner ‘Prophet Song,’ Paul Lynch drew a chilling picture of Ireland under totalitarian rule in a dystopian future. In the Malayalam original of ‘The Red Badge,’ published some years before the English translation, the author Rajesh R. Varma invents an alternate history where Kerala is under a…

No Such Thing as Monday by Sian Hughes – book review

Daddy`s girl: the sister who stayed Of survivor’s guilt and sisterly silence This slim volume packs a hefty punch. Sian Hughes whose earlier novel `Pearl` was longlisted for the Booker Prize, spins a tale that will have the reader so engrossed, they will need to shake themselves out of the book-induced reverie when they finally…

For the Love of Stories by Wendy Doniger – book review

A life richly lived Coincidentally enough, I am reading the memoirs of two eminent historians at the same time, Romila Thapar`s `Just Being` and this book I`m reviewing, Wendy Doniger`s `For the Love of Stories.` The former attends a talk by the latter and remarks that it was both entertaining and provocative. And that`s…

Twilight in Musashino by Seicho Matsumoto

Web of Deceit It takes special skill as a crime writer to keep a reader engaged despite revealing who the perpetrator is halfway through the book. This is the case in ‘Twilight in Musashino.’ Then again, the author Seicho Matsumoto is no ordinary crime novelist. He is a veteran, the founding father of Shakaiha or…

Just Being by Romila Thapar

JUST FINISHED READING what was arguably my best read of 2026, so far, Romila Thapar`s memoir JUST BEING, Seagull Books. This tome of a little more than 700 pages details the pre-eminent historian`s life of formidable achievements in the nine decades of her life, all of it driven by a curious uber-intelligent mind, the privilege…

Why I love trees – Opinion

Why I love trees Studies have repeatedly shown that being near trees lowers our blood pressure, slows our heart rate and reduces stress hormones; the activity cuts down cortisol, the main chemical our body makes in times of stress. Trees release phytoncides and as we breathe these natural oils in, our body responds by relaxing….

Book review: The Fragrance of Rain by Stephen Alter

Monsoon magicking This is Stephen Alter chasing the monsoon, taking us along with him. He adopts a freewheeling approach, first walking us through the pre-monsoon winds in the Doon Valley where he lives. The pictures he draws are sharp, verging on violent: `…as the storm closed in on the mountains, I could feel the energy…

Book review: The First House by Avni Doshi

Falling apart Avni Doshi`s debut work, `Burnt Sugar,` was a reflective look at family relationships, specifically the relationship between a woman and her daughter. This book, her second novel, is another look through the slightly fogged-up window of a family home, to the persistent accompaniment of cicadas in the garden vegetation, and a slightly creepy…

Book review: The View from Here, edited by Githa Hariharan and K. Satchidanandan

Singing in dark times Each story and poem in this anthology works as both a snapshot and a time capsule of a particular part of India. The editors, Githa Hariharan and K. Satchidanandan, have selected the short stories as well as the poems from the respected literary journal Guftugu, and the accounts adroitly entwine the…