Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy

When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy. Juggernaut Books There`s no getting around it, this book is a wrenching read for the reader, all the more so for the female reader. The unnamed narrator, a poet flying high but yet to get to the top of her game, decides to, rather suddenly, marry a man…

Humour: Indians lazy? How dare you!

The flip side of laziness A new study recently dubbed Indians the laziest people in the world. Sheila Kumar attempts a languid rebuttal What is this, I say. Why has this magazine study said that we are the laziest lot in the world? Do not believe this for a moment. The matter is deeper…

Book review: Small Towns, Big Stories by Ruskin Bond

This is more a brief take than review. Small Towns, Big Stories by Ruskin Bond (Aleph Publications) Another little gem from the inimitable Bond, Ruskin Bond. Herein are tales from the villages, hamlets and townships of his beloved hills, accounts of interesting and eccentric people, sundry leopards, bears and birds, and all of it infused…

Book review: Khullam Khulla by Rishi Kapoor

This is more a brief take than review of the book. My holiday reading was Rishi Kapoor`s Khullam Khulla, (HarperCollins) and a thoroughly enjoyable read it turned out to be. All through, you sense the polish given by co-author veteran film journalist Meena Iyer but it is Rishi Kapoor`s strident voice heard in the book,…

Photo Feature: An Eden with a serpent in Konni, Kerala

From lush greenery to pristine rivers, the stunning beauty of Kerala’s Konni Even given Kerala’s propensity for verdant vegetation, one could well believe that this is some part of the Amazon rainforest! All photos by Sheila Kumar and subject to copyright. Sheila Kumar / September 27, 2017 Konni is a hill town in Pathanamthitta district,…

Book review: Nanda Devi, a Journey to The Last Sanctuary by Hugh Thomson

Nanda Devi, A Journey to the Last Sanctuary by Hugh Thomson, Hachette India publishers. At 25,650 ft asl, Nanda Devi is India’s highest mountain; Kanchenjunga, which is higher, is on the border of India and Nepal. It has been closed to climbers by Indian authorities for years, since 1982 in fact, because of its sensitive…

Book review: The Burning Forest by Nandini Sundar

This is more a brief take than review of the book. There are book and then there are books. The Burning Forest (Juggernaut Books) was the hardest read of my life. Nandini Sundar`s clear-eyed look and calm but compassionate telling of just what atrocities are unleashed on the mind, body, spirit and dwellings of the…

Travel: Konni, Kerala

ROAD LESS TRAVELLED Eden, with its own river Everything is so green that it could hurt the eye of a non-Malayali. But then I`m a Malayali and in the interests of full disclosure, this is a coming- back- home trip for me. This homecoming is happening after more than two decades and Konni…

Book review: The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carre

The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carre Reminiscences from the spy who can string a sentence or two. And how. Behind the smoke and the mirrors, this book, by this onetime MI5 agent, is a master class in the art of story-writing, because every one of these stories from his life are fascinating anecdotes. And…

Humour: Confessions of a Steal-dealer

Confessions Of A Steal-Dealer I am a steal-dealer. You wouldn’t know it from looking at me. On the outside, I look like any other reasonably sane, reasonably intelligent, reasonably content Indian woman — but show me a certain kind of deal and watch the Ms Hyde in me push down Dr Jekyl with…