Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: The Noodle-maker of Kalimpong by Gyalo Thondup with Anne F Thurston

The Noodle Maker Of Kalimpong: The Untold Story Of My Struggle For Tibet by Gyalo Thondup with Anne F. Thurston (Random House India). Jeremy Bernstein says in his 1987 New Yorker article: There is something profoundly moving about the Tibetan way of life. About its religious essence. One feels instinctively that if this civilization were crushed…

Book review: Aleph Books` City Monographs

Cry, the beloved city It is neither compulsory nor mandatory but I feel the need to make this admission: I am not an outsider. Though not of Kannada origin, I have been a resident of Bangalore/Bengaluru since the start of the 80s. That`s been over three decades, during which I have lived, worked, married, learned…

Feature: How Relevant Are You?

How relevant are you? We don’t analyse it much, but it’s astonishing what we do to stay relevant. Relevant to who? Why, to our kith and kin, our friends and neighbours, the people we work for, the people we work with, the people who work for us, indeed, to the section of the whole wide…

Feature: The Hindu Bridal Book Articles

Bridal Aunty is back! This time she tackles the problems that unwittingly arise from those around the bridal couple. Q. I`m getting married in two months` time. Everything should be fine and…

Travel: Chinese Checkers

Chinese checkers It took a 20-day trip for me to ascertain some things about China All the literature I had read, which, admittedly, was of China of the old, not the modern glitzy country I saw, had led me to believe that it was not the cleanest of places. Not true. Not true at all….

Feature: The Sathya Saran Interview

Chronicle of a ghazal singer Sathya Saran talks about her book on ghazal singer Jagjit Singh. Sathya Saran is as busy as ever. The former editor of Femina now writes articles as a freelancer, books as an author, and edits and assigns books as Consulting Editor, HarperCollins Publishers India. She also teaches fashion journalism at…

Feature: Shopaholics Galore!

Shop till you drop? Don’t! SHEILA KUMAR Retail therapy makes for good jokes but not good advice. One can easily cross the line between enthusiastic shopper and compulsive shopper We are forever hearing that retail therapy is the best cure for all sorts of blues, and your bank balance be damned. We also know…

Book review: Pradyumna by Usha Narayanan

A karmic burden There is valour, cowardice, glory, shame, sex, lies and deception in Pradyumna’s story. What do we know of Pradyumna? That he was Krishna and Rukmini’s eldest born who, even as he lay in his crib, was snatched away by an asura. Taken deep into the netherworld, the boy grows up to be something…

Book review: Ahmedabad, A City in the World by Amrita Shah

This is more a brief take than a review. Ahmedabad, a City in the World by Amrita Shah (Bloomsbury).Gandhi`s chosen city. Ahmed Shah`s domain. Commercial stronghold. Textile treasure-house. Crucible for the diamond industry. Land of the Sabarmati. Home to the prestigious IIM-A. Hindu revivalist lab. A city brought to heel by a flamboyant strongman who…

Travel: China Diary

China Diary The overarching impression is of a country where everyone has turned consumer with a vengeance. The Mao suit is grey I am in Beijing a week after the PLA parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of China’s war against Japan. On subway trains, the TV screens are beaming the visuals in a loop:…