Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara

A dismayingly familiar dystopia Writers who create new worlds lead you to them through the proverbial Narnian cupboards. Suddenly, you are in a different world; the contours may seem vaguely familiar but the rest of the world is thrillingly new. Vauhini Vara’s `The Immortal King Rao` does just that. It is speculative fiction but the…

Guest column: Don`t Tar All Media with the Same Brush

Don`t tar all media with the same (grimy) brush You know how people constantly, relentlessly, moan about how terrible the media is, how it exists only to spread fake news, how it polarizes people? Well, you know what? India is still a free country, last time I checked. We don’t need to consume the kind…

Photo Feature: The Plitvice Lakes in Croatia

All photos by Sheila Kumar and subject to copyright. A short note on the green and white wonderland that is the Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. Stupid fights for land, was our driver/guide`s take on the bitter fighting at the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, and his words ring true when I read the backstory…

The Living Mountain by Amitav Ghosh

THE LIVING MOUNTAIN, A Fable for Our Times, by Amitav Ghosh. Fourth Estate Books. This is Ghosh, back at what he does so effectively: holding up a mirror to our acts of ecological destruction, telling us there`s still time to get our act together, to stop our marauding ways, to clean up after ourselves….

Book review: Languages of Truth by Salman Rushdie

Languages of Truth Essays 2003-2020. Of late, Salman Rushdie has been offering us long-winded, over-garrulous works of fiction, disappointing those of us who have long been fans of his writing. With LANGUAGES OF TRUTH, a collection of essays comprising various lectures, published articles, introductions to books and exhibition catalogues between 2003 and 2020, he redeems…

Book review: The Odd Book of Baby Names by Anees Salim

A bleak kind of hope Anees Salim`s new book is laced with equal amounts of melancholia and quirk, with the former gaining a slight edge over the latter, which will not surprise the writer`s fans one bit. The plot hinges on a slender story, that of an erstwhile ruler lying in a comatose state in…

Book review: The Temple Tiger and Other Man-eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett

THE TEMPLE TIGER AND MORE MAN-EATERS OF KUMAON by JIM CORBETT. Rupa Publications. When I return to much-loved books, it`s usually PG Wodehouse or Georgette Heyer. However, this time it was to Jim Corbett`s The Temple Tiger and More Man-eaters of Kumaon (Rupa Publications). The book is a treat for all Corbett fans, and we…

Book review: Handle with Care by Shreya Sen-Handley

Travels with the kids So, here comes a book that is something of a departure from others of its genre found on bookshelves today. This is a straight-up travelogue, one that falls back on tried and trusted tropes of travel writing: have an interesting place to go to. Tell of that visit in an interesting…

Book review: The Earthspinner by Anuradha Roy

Another little gem from Anuradha Roy, THE EARTHSPINNER (Hachette Books) traces the troubled path of potter Elango in the Kummarrapet basti somewhere in the Deccan,. He has the temerity to fall in love with a Muslim girl Zohra, and what`s more, to sculpt a large terracotta horse as attribute to what they think is their…

Guest column: NRIs and the art of gifting

NRIs and the art of gifting With India having undergone a major transformation in the last three decades or so, some of our NRI brethren are a confused lot now. Even as Smart Cities came into being (inside the heads of planners, if not on the ground), even as unicorn startups sprouted alicorns aplenty, even…