Comfortably Numb - Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Review on blogger Athira Jim`s Bewitched By Words blog

Book Review – Kith and Kin – chronicles of a clan by Sheila Kumar Wednesday, October 7, 2015 From the book cover: Wimpy men, whimsical women, people trapped in their own time zones, cuckolding wives… Meet the Melekats. They are an inimitable lot! These are slice-of-life stories about an old Nair family from south Malabar…

Photo Feature: China Chronicles

All pictures by SHEILA KUMAR except where otherwise mentioned. All images are subject to copyright. …

Photo Feature: Signs in China: Lost in translation?

All pictures by SHEILA KUMAR except where otherwise mentioned. All images are subject to copyright. Ran Over, it says on the vehicle up front.They have a sense of humour, these Beijingers. This polite but stern warning in our Shanghai hotel room caused much bemusement, amusement…and the immediate urge to follow a stranger! Delighted to…

Book review: Aarushi by Avirook Sen

Lurid book jacket notwithstanding, Avirook Sen`s dissection of the trial of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, following the mysterious murder of their young daughter Aarushi, is an incisive piece of well, reportage. Sen has trimmed virtually all the fat off the bone but what remains still tends to baffle, bemuse, dismay the reader. The real revelation…

Feature: Why Men Don`t Talk About Divorce

Why Men Don`t Talk About Divorce When I told my (male) friend I was writing on men and divorce, he did a double take. “Why?” he asked me tersely. “Why not?” I asked in return. He then took a deep breath and informed me that men don’t like to hear or read about, leave alone…

Feature: Teaching Kids Gandhigiri

Worthwhile lessons Of course, our children know who the Father of the Nation is. Unlike a certain island nation where the school-children fared dismally when it came to an awareness of their country’s history and history-makers, most Indian schoolkids will be able to turn in a fair essay on Bapu, his thoughts, beliefs and deeds….

Travel: Sirince, Turkey

SIRINCE On top of the world Sheila Kumar happens upon Sirince atop a modest-sized mountain in Turkey, and comes away charmed This place was not on my list. I mean the list I drew up before embarking on a trip to Turkey. There was glorious Istanbul, a boat ride on the mesmeric Bosporus, a day…

Feature: The new reader, the new writer

Indian English literature It’s all about the money, stupid. Or is it? Sheila Kumar| Change being a constant, we have been — ad nauseam — told for some time now that this is the post-CB age, the age of the new writer and the new reader. Commercial fiction has won the day, we are told….

Book review: The Laughing Sutra by Mark Salzman

In his second book, a work of fiction this time, Mark Salzman does not quite pull off the Iron and Silk magic once again but no matter, The Laughing Sutra (1991) is an eminently enjoyable read, a smart blend of fantasy, adventure and Chinese history. It’s a neat tweak of the old Middle Kingdom fable…

Book review: Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman

Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman: This book sure has a lot of qi! This week I went back to a much-loved book, the memoir of a young English teacher`s two-year stint in Changsha, in the Hunan province of China. It was written in the late 80s and went on to become a…