Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

Travel: Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh

Buddha’s Delight Sheila Kumar emerges almost as peaceful as the Enlightened One after a quiet day at Sanchi. Buddhism has always appealed to me since I’m a sort of middle-of-the-roader myself. Not one to glut on excesses in deprivation or indulgences, I go my way trying to live like a decent human being…

Feature: Arundhati Rao and her Ranga Shankara

`Shankar would be proud of me“ There is an apocryphal tale of a journalist going to interview Sean Connery just after the actor had doffed the 007 hat. The journo had been told to avoid all mention of James Bond. And, of course, the first thing he asks Connery is: “How are you, Mr Bond?”…

Feature: Anil Kumble, The Comeback Kid

Kumble, the Comeback Kid Flashback, fall 2000. Anil Radhakrishna Kumble, test spinner, record-breaker (who can forget that perfect 10?), pin-up for women who wouldn`t know a googly from a leg-break, Mr Really Nice Guy, had it all. And then, while playing in Sharjah in October 2000, an Act of God happened. Kumble hurt his shoulder….

Feature: The Jerry Pinto Interview

‘One per cent writing and 99 per cent rewriting’ Jerry Pinto speaks to SHEILA KUMAR about craft and the catharsis involved in telling the story of a mentally ill mother. Jerry Pinto is a writer who explores all the avenues of writing that open before him. His resume includes teaching mathematics and journalism, writing television scripts,…

Feature: The Silence of the Bangalorean

The (selective) silence of the Bangalorean The uglification of Bangalore seems well and complete. Our individual and collective silence has done us in. As with all such pieces, I open with a set of bulleted incidents that happened in the heart of Bangalore. Bangalore, mind you, not Bengaluru, because the focus of this article is…

Book review: Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Joy, despair, and a moral A modern retelling of an old fairy tale is also a compelling account of frontier life. The original version of this charming tale, by Eowyn Ivey, is titled Snegurochka and is in Russian. It is about an old couple who are visited by a fey creature of snow, a little girl…

Travel: Red Earth Kabini Resort, Karnataka

On a visit to the lovely Red Earth Kabini Resort, my first impressions is that the Kabini is such a beautiful river. In full spate now, whirlpools and eddies glimpsed in the far-from-still waters, the colour of gunmetal. Every now and then, the backwash rocks our reinforced coracle. But I have full faith…

Travel: Mother Mary`s House, Turkey

The house on the hill Legend has it that after the crucifixion, Mother Mary went to live in Turkey. We go explore the site. Our guide Cengiz is telling a fascinating story as the vehicle climbs the steep inclines of Mt. Koressos, the Bulbul Mountain, on the outskirts of the famed historical site of Ephesus….

Book review: When Mira Went Forth and Multiplied by Shinie Antony

A whole new spin on the old cliché: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Mira’s tale does not have the smoothest of starts, and the reader is more than a little startled to be set down bang in the middle of what appears to be a meltdown being suffered by the eponymous heroine….

Travel: The Bosphorus, Turkey

I just can’t help it. As I stand looking at the rippling swath of blue water, a line from an old Hindi film song comes to mind: “…tumsa nahin dekha.” I’m on the European side of Istanbul, staring at the Bosphorus. Over the last four days, I have taken in all of Istanbul’s many delights….