Features Archives - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Guest column: Nostalgia, with a Side of Wistfulness

So, I`m no Luddite but neither am I a Stevie Jobs, with a cutting edge understanding of tech change. However, all those Whatsapp forwarded- many-times clips singing a nostalgic tune about Flit spray cans, bicycle bells and Dalda tins bring forth the merest of smiles, nothing more, in me. Because nostalgia notwithstanding, some things wrought…

Feature: Still in Seoul

Happily drowning in the hallyu Where I fess up about coming late in the day to Kdramas but becoming an addicted consumer soon enough. Maybe I need to check myself into a de-addiction clinic, like now. A Kdrama de-addiction clinic. The hallyu wave crept up on me so slowly, so stealthily, I didn’t realise I’d…

Guest column: The 10 Percent Solution

The ten percent solution I wish to state at the outset that I`m not an employee of the Mari Kondo Foundation, and not in that legendary Sorter`s pay, either. But yes, I am making a case for letting go all that we gather and hold like, forever. Let`s face it, we are a species of…

Guest column: A Tale of Four Cities

A tale of four cities A quartet of places that showcases the best of human resilience. Drubovnik. Plitvice. Budapest. Prague. Places I visited a few months before the pandemic swept over the world and effectively locked us down. While I was rubber-necking as hard as any other tourist, taking in the stunning sights and tucking…

Guest column: Alas, Colour Still Matters

Alas, colour still matters This is the unabridged version. When people are storming the citadels of democracy, when strongmen are making new rules and breaking old ones with impunity, when thousands of famers are out protesting in the cold but their protests seem to fall on obdurately deaf ears, is it reprehensible of me to…

Guest column: Prisoners of the Algorithm

Prisoners of the Algorithm A quick question: What`s to stop us even as we hurtle to hell with our fingers poised to click? The answer is: nothing but our self-control/willpower/ self-discipline. And if you are rolling your eyes at that answer, well, so am I. I came deliberately late to two docudramas fast acquiring cult…

Guest column: Stardust on the console table

Stardust on the console table I read about the Khans, Shah Rukh and Gauri, entering into a collab with Airbnb, to throw open the doors of their Delhi house to all and sundry. All and sundry of the paying population, of course, and the partnership begins with winners of a contest being selected…

Guest column: You Are The Sky

When an attempt to imbibe serenity brings about more confusion. This is a Covid-19 quarantine story. It dates back to early April, a fortnight or so after we were first initiated into the art of hunkering down at home. This was a time when everyone was sending out helpful and useless tips to each other,…

Sangeetha Shinde Tee talks about The Naked Indian Woman

The naked truth Sangeetha Shinde Tee talks about the journey and purpose of her book, The Naked Indian Woman, and the lifetime that went into the making of it. What set you off on this particular quest? For as long back as I can remember, I have been told to be silent. My parents…

Guest column: Travellers from Hell

Travellers from hell Is it in some DNAs to be horrendous tourists? For far too many years to count, us Indians have won the Terrible Tourist sweepstakes, hands down. We are the group of travellers who point at the short skirts of the cabin crew and snigger. Who settle a chubby teenager on our lap…