Comfortably Numb - Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Feature: All Those Tall Tales!

Tall Tales Some beliefs are handed down by word of mouth, some come down the generations and soon, they become gospel truth. Sheila Kumar busts the myths associated with them You know the stories we are talking about. Glimpsing a black cat and anticipating bad luck. Throwing salt over your shoulder every time you spill…

Feature: Where`s The Party Tonight?

WHERE’S THE PARTY TONIGHT? With the right strategy, you can have a good time. Let`s make sure you do. The disclaimer ought to come right at the start, that this is not the party where you make a grand entrance with your gang of girls/boys, where you eat, drink and are merry, exiting on a…

Travel: The Mango Tree, Hampi

Idylls of a king The Mango Tree Hampi, Bellary District USP: Hampi-trawlers get to relax beside a river. It’s all co-related. Visitors to the Rome of south India (indeed maybe of all the East), Hampi, know better than to rush through the many ruins and then, rush back to their cities. Those who come to Hampi…

Travel: Tracking the Ganga

A river’s avatars In which I undertake a journey to gaze at the Ganga, all the way up to Badrinath. IT is a somewhat surreal situation. I’m sitting in a small room 3,133 metres above sea level, literally in the lap of snow-capped mountains. A voice, speaking in fluent Hindi laced with a hill patois,…

Travel: Taliparamba, Kerala

Where the bells ring The small town of Taliparamba near Kannur is famous for its many temples Even in a state that throws up one fresh tourist spot after another, the small town of Taliparamba, 20 km north of Kannur, lies a little off the beaten track. Basically a spread of about 47 villages, the…

Feature: Likethatonly Restaurant Review

Moregoodstuff The food trio — AD Singh, Chef Manu Chandra and Chetan Rampal —is showering Bangalore with more good stuff. Their new eatery, tucked away in a quiet lane in Whitefield, is all about whimsy, starting with the name: likethatonly. The décor — by designer Anshu Arora, painter Murali Nagapuzha and landscaping artist Rashmi Attavar…

Feature: Olive Beach Restaurant Review

Bountiful brunch This is a reaffirmation rather than a report. Restaurateur A.D. Singh’s brainchild, helmed by Chef Manu Chandra, a long slow lunch at Olive Beach continues to be the top-draw for Bangaloreans on lazy Sunday afternoons. So. What’s the same-old same-old? Why, it’s the Ladies who Lunch in Style, their Louboutins clacking on the…

Travel: Waterford, Ireland

Chasing crystals For all its chequered past, Waterford Crystal still holds all the magic you expect from a legend, writes Sheila Kumar, after a tour of the crystal factory in Ireland. “Why Waterford,” asks Bryan, mine host. “They have fallen on bad times. Most of the products are now made in eastern Europe.” In…

Humour: Travelling with the Paleface

Brownfaces amongst palefaces beside the Tiber Being an Indian in a coach full of foreigners in Italy has its advantages and disadvantages, discovers Sheila Kumar To be fair, we had insisted that we tour foreign parts, as it were, with anyone but Indians. Don’t get me wrong, I am as fond of my fellow Indian…

Feature: That Sugar Rush!

Drowning in a sugar rush at Olive Beach restaurant The strawberry consommé-drenched yogurt sorbet slides down my throat, smooth as honey but with a deliciously gritty undertaste. I take a deep breath of appreciation which coincides with my dinner companion’s rueful comment. “This is splendid. But omg, shouldn’t we be thinking of the damage it…