Features Archives - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Feature: The complexities of complicity

The complexities of complicity The most recent backstory in a woefully long line of back stories to this particular topic concerns the sometime Bollywood actress turned dance show jury member, married to a man of mysterious wealth. The man gets arrested for making porn videos, the actress immediately pleads ignorance. Then there is the Hollywood…

Guest column: To inconvenience and be inconvenienced

To inconvenience and be inconvenienced, that`s the Indian way Some years ago I was sitting next to an Australian tourist in a coach headed to Kovalam. First, they showed a movie, with tinny sound turned up to full volume. Those of us not interested in watching the 80s movie kept silent because other passengers might…

Guest column: Korea`s intriguing Tamil connect

Vanakkam, Seoul: the intriguing Tamil connect It doesn’t take long for the hardcore Kdrama fan/certified Koreaboo (that would be people obsessed with Korean culture) from India to sit up and take notice of several familiar sounding words that fall from the lips of a Kim, Park, Choi or Song on-screen. Out in South Korea (and…

Feature: As light as air

As light as air The origin story of my soufflé-making is now lost in the mists of time. However, I will admit that it had a lot to do with the fact that, after a string of epic fails with everyday lunches, I turned to baking under the impression that baked dinners would make for…

Guest column: Patriarchy in the land of matriarchy

Patriarchy in the land of matriarchy Even as Kerala tops the list on the human development, literacy, low infant mortality, high life expectancy indices, it remains at par if not worse than other states in one respect: the disrespect of women. The empowerment of Malayali women has been slowly eroding over the years, and this…

Feature: The Sonora Jha Interview

`Tenderness and empathy are the pillars of feminism for boys` Professor of journalism, writer, activist Sonora Jha `s latest book How to Raise a Feminist Son is a lived experience manifesto, a brave meld of the personal and the political. Every chapter parses the complexities of feminism, the weight of traditional tropes, gender binaries in films…

Guest column: Trust, faith and the coronavirus

The gullible and the cunning, a dangerous cocktail There`s a 2008 song by the ironically named Killers that rather cryptically asks: are we human or are we dancer? I`d like to tweak those words and ask: are we gullible or are we cunning? Well, do look at the evidence I put before you. One idiot…

Feature: The Kdrama Fashion Reveals

Men in greatcoats and women in ruffles: Kdrama reveals So, let me plunge those of you who aren’t really too conversant with Korean dramas straight into the deep end. Be warned, this deep dive into the hallyu (wave, referring to the tsunami-strength popularity enjoyed by Kdramas) will involve some startling adjustments of your hitherto held…

Guest column: The grim and the whimsical

The grim and the whimsical exist side by side today To misquote Dickens, it certainly is the worst of times and not so much the best of times. The seemingly interminable banks of dark clouds haven’t drifted off yet, they continue to darken our skies and our lives. Anxiety levels are still peaking, optimism is…