Comfortably Numb - Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: The Cows of Bangalore by Shoba Narayan

For the love of cows A book about cows of India in this day and age? That kind of subject can either be an inspired one or plain minefield-walking. However, Shoba Narayan sticks to her set script and delivers an easy read that will delight cow-admirers as well as intrigue those who view…

Feature: Gallipoli, The Scale of our War

Remembrance of war The Gallipoli exhibition at Wellington is a moving tribute to soldiers who died far away from home. On a recent trip to New Zealand, I happened to drop in at the Te Papa Museum in Wellington to watch the three-years-running mega crowd-puller Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War exhibition. I walked in…

Book review: A Faceless Evening by Gangadhar Gadgil

Of the human condition… Fourteen evocative short stories by the Marathi master. Gangadhar Gadgil carved a niche for himself in Marathi literature decades ago, and is a known name to those who read translations but alas, not to scores of other readers. Now, Ratna Books and translator Keerti Ramachandra have rectified that omission with this…

Book review: Hush A Bye Baby by Deepanjana Pal

When the cradle falls Deepanjana Pal`s Hush A Bye Baby (Juggernaut Publishers) is a police procedural where the action shifts focus continually amongst a small group of participants, rather like an Agatha Christie mystery. Mumbai socialite and gynaecologist Dr Nandita Rai (we get a cracker of an intro to her) stands accused of female…

Book excerpts: The Lake District, An Anthology compiled by Norman Nicholson

The Lake District An anthology compiled by Norman Nicholson. Penguin Books. 1977. This delightful composition of prose, poetry and essays, some of them in the Cumbrian dialect, contains such nuggets as the ones reproduced below. Gentleman in a hurry It was customary, I am told, to dash by them (i.e. the Lakes) with an…

Travel: Looking for that clear day

On a clear day….. It is the nature of the footloose traveller to muse, to ponder, to introspect. As one of the tribe, I find myself thinking deeply about one set of four one-syllable words that hold in them much hope, despair and patience. On a clear day. This was the leitmotif of my travelling…

Book review: The Story of a Long Distance Marriage by Siddesh Inamdar

A marriage of inconvenience Rohan and Ira are an “unjinxable couple” (Rohan’s words, not mine) and that, of course, tempts fate. Ira goes off to NYC to study, Rohan stays behind at his newspaper desk job, and a series of jinxes proceeds to hit them. A gulf begins to yawn between them, their…

Book review: Jasoda by Kiran Nagarkar

Jasoda by Kiran Nagarkar. HarperCollins. We meet Jasoda the eponymous hero/heroine/protagonist of Kiran Nagarkar`s novel as she takes a quick break from working the family`s barren field to deliver a child. The moment she sees it’s a girl, she quickly puts it between her thighs and squeezes till the little girl is still. Because Jasoda…

Book review: The Brahmin by Ravi Shankar Etteth

The killing game A fast-paced thoroughly entertaining read that mixes up some history, some espionage and some gory stuff. Ravi Shankar Etteth is back with his fifth book and this one The Brahmin (Westland Books) is a spy thriller. Not your routine spy thriller, though; this story is set in the times of Ashoka ruler…

Feature: Too bad, Aziz Ansari

Too Bad, Aziz Ansari A quick recap of the whole distasteful affair first. A few weeks ago, Babe, a feminist website targeted mainly at youngsters, ran a graphic account of an anonymous woman’s sexual encounter with Ansari. Grace, the pseudonym used in the article, described the encounter as sexual assault. The two had gone…