Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Feature: The Thorth Turns haute!

The Malayali towel’s 15 minutes of fame. Kerala’s ubiquitous, uber-thin towels get an amazing upgrade, much to the bemusement of Malayalis around the world What can I say? It’s like your old blush-pink velour pyjamas are suddenly trending like mad on every It list. Quintessentially Malayali, the thorth is simple, sans fuss, low-key as hell…

Book review: Under Something of a Cloud by Dom Moraes

Just finished Under Something of a Cloud, (Speaking Tiger Books), a collection of travel essays from the fluid pen of the late Dom Moraes. These were the words that had me reaching out for my dictionary; some I knew but wanted to check their meaning once again: Appurtenances. Assever. Anfractuous. Enfiladed (by mist). Their hirpling…

Book Review: Raavan by Amish

Insidious villain And now, the origin story for Raavan. Unlike in the lacklustre telling of Ram`s story in Ramachandra, Scion of Ishkvaku, and Sita`s tale which, apart from the big reveal, was a pretty straight affair, Amish gives his Raavan enough of an edgy personality so as to make him an interesting protagonist. Picking up…

Feature: The biker chick who is not!

The happiness of a long-distance biker Yoga teacher Sangeetha Jairam rides off into the yonder in her spare time. “I’m no biker chick,” Sangeetha Jairam says firmly. “I am more of an adventure-traveller; my motorcycle is something of a companion-teacher, who has taught, and continues to teach me, a lot about life.” Biker chick or…

Book review: The Book Ninja by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus

The Book Ninja by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus. Simon and Schuster Books UK. Such a fun read! Okay, so comparisons are odious but think Bridget Jones in Oz. However, a Bridge who`s got her shit together a bit more, is prettier, less scatty but equally wacky, equally witty. And a lot more well-read. This…

Feature: The Tea-times of Childhood

Remembrance of teatimes past Looking back at 4 pm food memories It is a truth universally acknowledged, that young persons forced to spend a whole hot and humid month in their `native place,` will be forever restless, forever hungry. Back in the Eighties, our large brood of siblings and cousins were no different when…

Book review: The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin by Manu S Pillai

History in sixty takes An absorbing collation of historical tales from across India Manu S Pillai, our desi Dalrymple, gives us another round of Indian history, this time in a collection of essays touching upon one interesting character after another, some well-known, some not, one or two quite obscure. The book is a compilation of…

Travel: All Saints Garrison Church, Lucknow

Peacocks at prayer Lucknow cantonment`s All Saints Garrison Church is one sumptuous Raj relic Lucknow cantonment`s All Saints Garrison Church is one sumptuous Raj relic. As we turned left into the compound of our army guest house, I almost dislocated my neck, the aforementioned neck being sharply turned to the right. Because what met…

Book review: House of Stars by Keya Ghosh

I read House of Stars by Keya Ghosh (Penguin Metro Reads) on the exuberant recommendation of my teenaged niece and guess what, it was an absorbing read. This is love in the times of religious fundamentalism and communal intolerance, the nascent passions of two eighteen- year- olds, Diya from Mumbai and Kabir from Kashmir, forming…

Book review: The Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris

In her latest book, Joanne Harris brings back Lansquenet-sous-Tannes` friendly neighbourhood witch, Vianne Rocher. Vianne`s making and scrying with chocolate again; her elder daughter Anouk has stayed behind in Paris and the younger girl Rosette is now a silent sixteen. She believes that her Maman has made a sinister pact with the wind and let…