Comfortably Numb - Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Feature: The Jaisim Interview

Jaisim and the Art of Objectivism At 50, when he sits back and takes stock of his life and career, architect Jaisim allows a small smile to flit across his face. The houses, offices, retreats…

Humour: A question of pedigree

A question of pedigree He was gifted to us, a week-old bundle of sable brown fur and unfocussed grey eyes. The resident pedigree took one look at him and a look of sheer horror came into her eyes. Ever since, her only reaction has been a policy of cold ignoring interspersed with occasional snapping. “Definitely traces…

Feature: Vineyard Musings

Vineyard tours are catching on СНПЧ Epson хостинг joomla There’s no better way to spend a lazy Sunday in Bangalore than to go wine-tasting, discovers Sheila Kumar. Some days are so typical of our city, Bangalore should take out a patent on them. This Sunday is one such. The sun is playing peek-aboo with the…

Feature: When BFFs Break Up

Heartbreak comes in pink, too I don’t want to sound like I’m writing the sequel to Men are from Mars…. but let’s take the masculine parallel first. When two men move back and away from what seemed to be a convivial friendship, for reasons best known only to the two, and about which they will…

Feature: Khadi Goes Haute

Khadi in the limelight Humble? Coarse? Beige? Not any more. Reincarnated in gossamer-fine, supple and coloured avatars, India’s freedom fabric is having a fashion moment all over again. Danish textile designer Bess Nielsen’s store in Paris is named after it. It has made it to the Star Wars films. Designer Christina Kim’s haute label Dosa stocks it….

Travel: Chimi Lakhang in Bhutan

Blessed by the phallus Bhutan’s mystifying phallicgraphy is a tradition dating back to the 15th century. The Chimi Lhakhang was not on my list of Bhutan must-sees. In fact, I did not even know about it. And then, en route to the hill station of Punakha, where the current king wed his pretty wife,…

Feature: How We Gave Ourselves A Food Upgrade

Even as haute cuisine deliberately downgrades itself, are diners willy-nilly undergoing an upgrade? The movement has all the subtlety and finesse of a glacier melting. Everything has happened at pretty much the same time. Lalitha, give or take a ‘ji,’ now finds a wide gamut of ready-to-eat, hatke packaged meals on the store shelves. Kitchens transmogrify…

Humour: The UI goes abroad

Old Habits? We’ve all seen the Ugly Indian on his own home turf, says Sheila Kumar. This character takes those characteristics abroad too! CARTOON: OUTLOOKINDIA.COM Don’t get…

Travel: Jageshwar Temple, Kumaon

Temples of solitude It is a hot April day, but not too hot. I am gazing at the cluster of stone temples that makes up the ancient Jageshwar complex, 125 temples devoted to Lord Shiva. In turn, I can feel someone gazing at me; the compelling intensity of the scrutiny is like…

Review: Excerpts from Kitaab’s review of Kith and Kin.

Kith and Kin: A Portrait of a Southern Indian clan Zafar AnjumMay 31, 2013 Kith and Kin I have been trying to take a crack at Sheila Kumar’s collection of short stories Kith and Kin (Rupa, 2012) for a few months but without much success. In between, I read more than half of Howard Jacobson’s Zoo Time and then abandoned…