Features Archives - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Column: Do You Still Call On People?

Do you still call on people? It was a quaint custom, one handed down to us via our colonial masters, one we faithfully, happily followed. It involved people getting dressed up, not necessarily to the nines, but quite definitely in their Sunday best. They then went around to other people`s places, rang the doorbell and…

Column: Let`s reset for the journey rather than the destination

Let`s reset for the journey rather than the destination This is my ode to the paths we take to reach someplace. Let`s face it, most times it`s all about reaching rather than relishing the journey. We stride on our paths, gathering speed, sidestep what we perceive to be obstacles, and are relieved when…

Column: On the Sanitisation of Well-loved Books

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater I recently watched Roger Waters, former Pink Floyd songwriter and bassist, the man who wrote the most scathing lyrics that shone a spotlight on war, violence, twisted men and women, twisted politics, defending himself against charges of anti-Semitism. After I intently searched Waters` monologue for any signs of…

Column: Deadlines and a Couple of Cappuccinos, Please

Coffeeshop chronicles: How WFC works for some, not all Soon after WFH became the ante-Covid and post-Covid norm, WFC — Working from Cafes — got its moment in the sun. WFC always had its devotees who had been quietly slipping into the nearest café, there to set up their notebooks, laptops and smartphones, order a…

Column: Love makes the world go round? Says who?

Love makes the world go round? Says who? So here`s the thing. Despite the edgy love stories Malayalam cinema regularly puts out (anyone seen Mammooty`s Peranbu, where he settles down with a transwoman at the end?), despite the love songs our singers soulfully sing, the truth is that many people in Kerala are stuck in…

Feature: Kochi-Muziris Biennale: the human condition through art

Art imitating life The fifth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, arguably India’s best art show, is on again at a handful of venues in Kochi, mostly in the Fort Kochi area. The 2022-23 edition, curated by Shubigi Rao, puts on display a large swathe of story-telling through film, installations, photography and art, from a wide…

Feature: A prolific chef and his new venture LUPA

From strength to delectable strength We all know of prolific authors/artists/musicians but Bangalore has the happy distinction of having one very prolific chef, the uberpopular Chef Manu Chandra. Having burst onto the local food scene in 2004 with his Olive Beach, the past years have seen Chef Manu helming pleasing and profitable eateries both in…

Column: Getting into all kinds of stuff

Getting into all kinds of stuff Tell me something. Is it just me or have you too noticed a recent trend where one word is freely and frequently misused? I`m talking about the word `into` used as a preposition. For far too many years, I`d been introduced at parties as my husband`s missus, who was…

Guest column: What`s in a name?

What`s in a name? What`s in a name? A lot of aspirations, apparently. Before this becomes a scattershot viewpoint, let me specify that I`m talking only about names bestowed on buildings new and old. It began in a mild benign manner. Apartment blocks of modest rise that came up beside the fast shrinking lakes of…

Guest column: Why are we so loud?

Why are we so loud? I recently watched a video, purportedly a spoof, where an Indian aunty adopts a hectoring tone and shows us how ginger tea is brewed back home in India. I say `back home` because the woman is standing in an American kitchen, heaping much unbridled derision on Americans. Personally, I found…