Comfortably Numb - Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Travel: Mother Mary`s House, Turkey

The house on the hill Legend has it that after the crucifixion, Mother Mary went to live in Turkey. We go explore the site. Our guide Cengiz is telling a fascinating story as the vehicle climbs the steep inclines of Mt. Koressos, the Bulbul Mountain, on the outskirts of the famed historical site of Ephesus….

Book review: When Mira Went Forth and Multiplied by Shinie Antony

A whole new spin on the old cliché: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Mira’s tale does not have the smoothest of starts, and the reader is more than a little startled to be set down bang in the middle of what appears to be a meltdown being suffered by the eponymous heroine….

Travel: The Bosphorus, Turkey

I just can’t help it. As I stand looking at the rippling swath of blue water, a line from an old Hindi film song comes to mind: “…tumsa nahin dekha.” I’m on the European side of Istanbul, staring at the Bosphorus. Over the last four days, I have taken in all of Istanbul’s many delights….

Travel: Bhutan

Kingdom of happiness Every step I take is hard work. My breath has started coming out in gasps. I am more than halfway up a very steep gradient. I just can’t turn back. Is this a time to measure my happiness quotient? Not really. It’s a cool day, mercifully, and the hills that…

Feature: Friendships that fade away

Those fading friendships Even BFFs grow apart, the physical or emotional distance resulting in a split. There is always the olive branch… provided you need one. Let’s begin with a true story. Shylaja and Hajira had been best friends, closerthanthis from the time they both went to the same primary school. They saw each…

Feature: Stress Busters

A lot of bad things that happen to one’s body can be blamed on stress. Tackle stress head on. Stress raises adrenaline levels which boost cytokine levels which, in turn, inflame blood vessels. This makes it easy for cholesterol to clog arteries. You fall ill; gain weight; get depressed. You are perennially stressed. And the…

Feature: Weber : Licensed to grill!

Licensed to grill! When Manu Chandra cooks, the world (happily) eats. And now it transpires that when Manu Chandra talks, the world eagerly listens. And so it was that Weber Grills hit upon a brilliant idea: of having this uber-chef tell people all about the finer points of grilling. Which was how people gathered at…

Travel: Ireland

Demystifying the misty isles of Ireland Ireland makes for the prettiest montage ever, that much is certain. Imagine peaty boglands, still lakes, fields of golden gorse, the enigmatic Round Towers. Cottages with thatched roofs, pubs with parquet floors, wainscoting and old ladies in tweed devouring scones with clotted cream, complete this picture. However, not everything you…

Travel: Kannur, Kerala

A superb coastal gem You have to come see Kannur’s buddhu fish,” the colonel, an old friend, tells me. And I’m hooked. What is life if you haven’t caught a glimpse of buddhu fish, whatever they might be? Which is why and how I find I’m in Kannur, a very tiny strip on the…

Humour: English as she is spoke

We don’t need no vocab! OXFORD BUSTING They speak her funnily in different parts of the world, as Sheila Kumar discovers Let’s face it, the amazing citizens of that amazing country, the US of A, started out tweaking English for pure convenience’s sake. While the purists raised a querulous eyebrow, stiffened their upper lip and bore…