Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Feature: Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged

Ayn Rand: The enduring saga of Atlas Shrugged October was a special month for fans of Ayn Rand. It was the 50th anniversary of the publication of her grand polemic, Atlas Shrugged. And of course, there were celebrations, in the US as well as in India, the latter lot organized by the Delhi- based Liberty…

Feature: The Dangers of Detoxing

The dangers of detoxing Relentless fasting, fad dieting and colonic irrigation…not all of it is very good news. Detoxing has, for some years now, been the mantra for just about anything to do with the human body and mind; the way to a better skin, lustrous tresses, shining eyes, and of course and a calm…

Feature: Jaipur Lit Fest Sidelights

Jaipur Literature Festival: Can you repeat the answer, please? One quick question. Who was the rock star of the LitFest? ‘Twas Vikram Seth. Behaving like a distracted, sometimes dithering Oxford don, he launched on chatty monologues, read poetry in truly divine fashion, had the audience at ‘hello.’ Then he took one look at the snaking…

Travel: Samtse, Bhutan

Samtse symphony A haven in the land of the Thunder Dragon The crossing into Bhutan was made so seamlessly, we were in the Land of the Thunder Dragon (the capital letters add to the mystique!) before we knew it. We entered from the south-western tip, from Siliguri in sub-Himalayan West Bengal, to use the…

Travel: Rome, Italy

A Roman Odyssey Rome isn’t just the Vatican City. Sheila Kumar travels across the heart of the city and still has energy left over to gasp in awe and delight. Our hotel is just across the magnificent Collosseum. Rome that morning, is a balmy 18 degrees Celsius, brilliant sunshine, fluffy white clouds scudding across…

Travel: Cappadocia, Turkey

Just can’t wait to kiss the ground… Sheila Kumar goes hot-air-ballooning in Cappadocia with fear in her heart and a question on her lips. It had rained, the night before. And so, some of us go to bed with a silent plea in our hearts. Those pleas are heard; at 4.30 the…

Feature: The Anonymous Woman

She’s the best, now and forever Her looks are deceptive. She always looks calm and collected, and content. If not happy, well then, not unhappy, either. This look, it has come from long years of practice, of perfecting the art of being the still center of all the gathering storms. And apart from practice making…

Feature: The Shefalee Vasudev Interview

‘I’m a chronicler, not a groupie’ Shefalee Vasudev’s Powder Room is an honest look at the gloss and the dross in the fashion industry. She talks about why she chose to take the lid off the glamour. Journalist Shefalee Vasudev came to her first book via stints with Cosmopolitan,The Asian Age, anchoring and scripting a Hindi…

Feature: Shinie Antony`s Novels

Weaving strong narrative threads Shinie Antony’s recent releases both deal with bold subjects, vulnerability being the leitmotif in one of them. Exactly three years after her debut novella, Barefoot and Pregnant, we find author Shinie Antony pretty much where we left her last: balanced on the cusp of ordered chaos, taking in all of life’s…

Feature: Are You A Smart Shopper?

Are you a smart shopper? Scoring great stuff at all the sales is only part of the deal. Spending well, and wisely, makes the deal a super one. Sheila Kumar points the way down Shop Street. It’s Sales Time in the city and we are trying our best not to lose our heads, right? We…