Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

The Wellness Column: Common Sense Does the Job!

Common sense does the job! You don’t need to consult a doctor/nutritionist/wellness coach all the time; sometimes, daily doses of common sense works wonders. Here’s a list of must-knows and must-dos for a healthy lifestyle. Eating right Drink coffee. Yes, you read that right; coffee’s link to heart disease has been debunked over and over…

The Wellness Column: Wash It Right

Wash it right! How often and how thoroughly you wash your hair shows in your crowning glory. Most of us dunk our head under water, scrunch some shampoo into our hair, wash it off with just as much water we think we need, and we are done. This is actually, the wrong way to wash one’s…

The Wellness Column: The Fear of Failure

Facing the fear of failure Tripping and not getting up still remains our core fear. We have grown up on a steady diet of Fail Tales. Consider all the adages: Failure is the stepping stone to success. Fail, fail and then succeed. We are all failures — at least, the best of us are. Failure is…

Book review: A Strange Kind of Paradise by Sam Miller

A Foreign View One peculiar idiosyncrasy of this reviewer is to read the Acknowledgements page first. In A Strange Kind of Paradise, Sam Miller has an ‘Apologies and Acknowledgements’ page, wherein he apologises to fans of many real-life as well as fictional Indians, and there is mention of Padma and Parvati Patil, last met in…

The Wellness Column: Sniffles in the Sun

Sniffles in the sun Summer colds can really ruin fun in the sun. Here’s how to handle the sniffles that hit between May and October. I’m back and still on the subject of summer. This time it’s the tale of summer colds, one of the occupational hazards of enjoying days of bright sunshine. For years,…

The Wellness Column: Surviving Summer

Lighten up this summer! Summer has begun with a bang and the mercury has begun to soar. But you can survive the heat with just a few simple tips. Weather-wise, the best does not lie in the sweltering months before us. The basic survival mantra is: lightly does it. Here are some ways you can…

Feature: The Shyam Ahuja Interview

A man with designs Fifty years ago, Shyam Ahuja launched his brand of dhurries. He talks about what his plans are and why quality is more important than price. Once upon a time, not so very long ago, Shyam Ahuja was the first and last name in floor decor. This was the man who reinvented…

Book review: Land Where I Flee by Prajwal Parajuly

Reunion rites In his second book, this time a full-fledged novel, acclaimed author Prajwal Parajuly brings to readers the tale of a family reunion with all the pleasant and less than pleasant emotions attendant on such events. Land Where I Flee is peopled by the dysfunctional family of Chitralekha Nepauney, Aamaa to her not too…

Feature: On Gastropubs

Pub it in style A tour of the metros for the gastropub experience. Time was when people would head out to a restaurant, order masala dosas, wash it down with mosambi juice and call it an evening well spent. Then food acquired some frills and furbelows. Basic fare became stylish, the side dishes acquired a personality, and…

Feature: India Breaks Into A Dance!

So we think we can dance She’s doing the bachata gracefully, torso twisting with every nimble move. Suddenly, she segues into a merengue, her mauve-coloured frilly skirt twirling in counter-rhythm. The audience can’t take its eyes off her, the judges are trying their best to look impassive but their eyes give them away. When the…