Comfortably Numb - Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Feature: The Hindu Bridal Book Articles

Wedding Day questions? Ask the Bridal Aunty! BA is a combination of your favourite aunt and a desi Emily Post. Here, she has some straight and not-so-straight answers to all those big day qs! Q. My BFF is getting married and with three weeks to go, she`s turning into a classic Bridezilla. She wants her…

Feature: The Hindu Bridal Book Articles

THE HINDU BRIDAL BOOK Notes to oneself Some matters should be kept between the bride and herself! The big day is finally here, or almost. Your big day. Even as…

Photo Feature: Paths…

Paths….. All photos by Sheila Kumar. All images are subject to copyright. These are tracks, bridle paths and trails I took on a recent holiday in the Kumaon foothills. We each are on a journey Each journey has a path As we travel to our futures We…

Book review: A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces

Briefly, but with feeling First, the good news. They are all here: Tagore, Premchand, Manto, Chughtai. R K Narayan, Amrita Pritam, Ruskin Bond, Gulzar, Anita Desai. Thakazhi, Basheer, Paul Zacharia, Mahasweta Devi, Ambai, U R Ananthamurthy. Vikram Seth, Irwin Allan Sealy, Cyrus Mistry, Shashi Tharoor, Vikram Chandra. And the cherry on the icing? This compilation…

Book review: Urnabhih by Sumedha V. Ojha

Love in the shadow of intrigue Sumedha Ojha has set this fast-paced thriller in the Mauryan age, a little after the adventurer turns king and is crowned Chandragupta Maurya. The story gets off to a somewhat stilted start and the awkward language (more about that, anon) only serves to drag it down. However, the turnabout…

Travel: In Brughes

In Bruges This Flemish town is easily one of the most picturesque spots in Europe. To say I was charmed is putting it mildly. My boutique hotel stood next to the huge St. Salvatore Cathedral. Every time I opened the curtains, the dun-coloured stone of the church walls took on a new hue; partly…

Book review: Fairy Tales at Fifty by Upamanyu Chatterjee

An unspooling yarn First up, a stray thought. If this were a film, it would be what is called a ‘horrex’ film, a horror plus sex admixture. Upamanyu Chatterjee approaches the heart of his story in a roundabout manner. He introduces a character whose relevance is clearly apparent but his link to Pashupati’s family less…

Book review: A Bad Character by Deepti Kapoor

Well, comparisons are odious but 30 pages or so into this book, words float into your mind. Words like Svengali. Like Last Tango in Paris. Like Lolita. Like Caro Lamb and Lord Byron. Like 9½ Weeks. You get the drift. Deepti Kapoor`s heroine Idha, motherless, abandoned by her father, is a bit of a wraith: good-looking, intense, ripe for anything life or…

Feature: Women Who Bond

That silken bond Tomorrow is international women’s day. And contrary to popular misconceptions, the ladies aren’t at each other’s throats. Sheila Kumar reckons that they are enjoying each other’s company and forging close bonds. Move over old…

Feature: Only Rats Race!

Only rats race! Actually, Ruskin Bond put it best. His Love Among the Bookshelves yields this nugget: “…I have mentioned my antipathy to running races. Why bother to come first when, with less effort, you can come in last and be none the worse for it? There is no law against coming in last.” Everyone…