Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: The Story of a Brief Marriage by Anuk Arudpragasam

The Story of a Brief Marriage by Anuk Arudpragasam, Fourth Estate/HarperCollins Books. 2017 release. So, this is a story you read at one sitting, with something small and hard lodged at the back of your throat, and be warned, that something never dissolves; not while you are reading the book, not for a while after…

Book review: It`s All In Your Head, M by Manjiri Indurkar

Managing the Black Dog A brave account of struggling with a troubled mind and body. If life sometimes looks to be all uphill, never is this more manifest than in Manjiri Indurkar`s It`s All In Your Head, M. Laid low with a bevy of stomach- related ailments, some of the trouble diagnosed to a rotavirus…

Guest column: You Are The Sky

When an attempt to imbibe serenity brings about more confusion. This is a Covid-19 quarantine story. It dates back to early April, a fortnight or so after we were first initiated into the art of hunkering down at home. This was a time when everyone was sending out helpful and useless tips to each other,…

Photo Feature: Baking Bread

All photos by Sheila Kumar and subject to copyright. Baking bread is my happy place, happy activity. It`s my favourite destresser, mood-booster, anger-calmer, emo-pacifier centering activity. Here`s a collection of the breads I bake when I`m happy, when I`m sad, when I`m calm, when I`m stressed, when I`m up, when I`m down. Sourdough 2. …

Book review: Rhododendrons in the Mist by Ruskin Bond

There`s a tale called Panther`s Moon in Ruskin Bond`s book RHODODENDRONS IN THE MIST (Aleph Books/2019 release) a collection of the writer`s favourite tales of the Himalaya. And Panther`s Moon is a classic example of why Bond`s popularity amongst the reading public continues to thrive, to flourish, to attract newer readers. The story puts little…

Travel: Bhoganandeeshwara Temple, Bangalore

A treasure trapped in time The entrance gate is old, time-worn and not the most impressive. You step in and green lawns bask lazily in the early morning sun. There are dogs playing about, a magnificent chameleon perched on a chariot wheel, and a couple of women sweeping the perimeter of the complex. The laburnum…

Sangeetha Shinde Tee talks about The Naked Indian Woman

The naked truth Sangeetha Shinde Tee talks about the journey and purpose of her book, The Naked Indian Woman, and the lifetime that went into the making of it. What set you off on this particular quest? For as long back as I can remember, I have been told to be silent. My parents…

Book review: Akbar the Great Mughal by Ira Mukhoty

This is more a brief take than review. Akbar the Great Mughal by Ira Mukhoty. Aleph Books. Such a good read. The picture of the protagonist that emerges from Ira Mukhoty`s book on Akbar is an illuminating one: a man of modest build, sharp intelligence, quick temper, a fondness for taming elephants (he knew the…

Guest column: Travellers from Hell

Travellers from hell Is it in some DNAs to be horrendous tourists? For far too many years to count, us Indians have won the Terrible Tourist sweepstakes, hands down. We are the group of travellers who point at the short skirts of the cabin crew and snigger. Who settle a chubby teenager on our lap…

Book review: Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena

Enter the Star Warrior A prophecy. A child with a scar. A villain slated to be killed by said child. Tanaz Bhathena’s Haunted by the sky, a YA fantasy fiction, shares these plot points with Rowling’s Potter series. There are other similarities too, but then the template of good versus evil, or even of a…