Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup

Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup (HarperCollins Books). What an assured debut! Shubhangi Swarup`s Latitudes of Longing is in one short succinct word, astonishing. Writing like a geologist with a magic pen, Swarup spins a story that at its core, is a love story to the mountains, to the sea, to the earth and the…

Book review: Lullaby by Leila Slimani

Cradle fall and all This book is such an immersive experience, you find yourself exhaling long and deeply when you come to the last page. It’s the kind of book where you sit up as something strikes you; where you wince as you see what`s coming before the characters do. Where you sharply draw…

Photo Feature: Critters of Odisha

All photos by Sheila Kumar. All images are subject to copyright. A collage of creatures seen across Odisha during our recent trip therein Outside the Lingaraja temple complex in Bhubaneshwar. Making light of history at the Rajarani temple in Bhubaneshwar. Two comrades outside the Khandagiri Caves outside Bhubaneshwar. Calmly appropriating…

Travel: Indian Tourists: The Way We Are

Nightmare tourists on steroids When on holiday, we desis know just how to jump from being bindaas to crass. I read of the incident that happened last month where the Royal Caribbean International line had to refund passengers after 1,300 Indian men from a gutka company came on board the Voyager of the Seas for…

Travel: Dambulla Caves, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka`s Dambulla Cave Temple stuns the viewer into an awed silence. Of late, I have broken a long-time habit, that of reading up on a place before I visit it. Because, when you go someplace you know little or nothing about, the visual pleasure of what you come across is underlaid with…

Travel: Seven Things to Marvel at in New Zealand

Seven Things to Marvel at in New Zealand From natural beauty to fabulous food and unique local culture, this island country is pure magic The amazing waterbodies The deep blue of Lake Wakatipu; the ice-blue Waikato River With 4,25,000 km of rivers and streams, 4,000 lakes and over 200 underground aquifers at last…

Book review: Pyjamas Are Forgiving by Twinkle Khanna

Pyjamas are Forgiving review: Not much of a twinkle A tale of love and longing within the confines of an Ayurvedic spa. This is the third offering from the sharp and witty chronicler of our zeitgeist. Now, it may be an asset for the author or it may be a liability but there`s no getting…

Photo Feature: Sylvan Sri Lanka

All photos by Sheila Kumar and subject to copyright. The sea at Negombo On the road to Sigiriya At the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage The magnificent ruins of Pollonoruwa The Buddha`s feet in one the caves at Dambulla The pathway that leads to the…

Photo Feature: Views from a Bangalore Window

This appeared in The Hindu Metro Plus HASHTAG THIS column on 25 September 2018. All photos by Sheila Kumar and subject to copyright. And here are the snaps separately…. All photos by Sheila Kumar. All images are subject to copyright. Links to my other Photo Features: Photo Feature:…

Photo Feature: Kiwiland Calling!

All photographs by Sheila Kumar. Images are subject to copyright. The Southern Alps, freshly dusted with snow after Cyclone Gita. A symphony of colours. Big sky country. The Pacific Ocean in all its shimmering glory Lake Benmore at Omarama. The NZ troika: cows… . …bales…