Feature - Comfortably Numb

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…

Feature: Culture Chameleons

Those Culture Chameleons! It’s official. India just won the culture war. Which culture war, you ask. Why, the one that our netas tout like some tired old mantra every chance they get: the war against westernization, against the evil influence of burgers and quesadillas, Louboutin heels and Cavalli outfits, against arguably execrable singers like Snoop Dogg and Keisha, EDM and…

Feature: On Books and Bangalore

So. What is Bangalore reading? Sheila Kumar sifts through rumours of a tectonic shift in Bengaluru’s reading pattern. In a tweak of the immortal CSNY song, this was a long time coming. My personal wake-up moment came via a twin-pronged route. I was scanning the sell list of a popular buy-and-sell online forum when I…

Feature: Ian Fleming`s 007 vs Hollywood`s 007

Ian Fleming would be both shaken and stirred if he met Hollywood`s 007 The name is, of course, Bond, James Bond. And he`s back in the news, what with the next movie (titled `Spectre`) announced, what with the beauteous Monica Belluci as the oldest Bond girl (phew), what with Sania Mirza set to…

Feature: The Das Sreedharan Interview

‘Food is god to me’ In conversation with London-based chef, restaurateur and inveterate rice-lover, Das Sreedharan. Das Sreedharan went to London to study accountancy, but ended up opening the Rasa chain of restaurants and making his mark in global cuisine. Sreedharan, who appears frequently on British television, is the author of four popular cookbooks and…

Feature: The Art of Coping

Cope strategies to manage stress When life throws lemons at us, we are told to make lemonade. For some of us, that lemonade turns out quite sweet. The secret is a functional coping strategy. The sink or swim analogy is the most apt one in life. Staying alive, surviving, is all about learning how to…

Feature: The Shyam Ahuja Interview

A man with designs Fifty years ago, Shyam Ahuja launched his brand of dhurries. He talks about what his plans are and why quality is more important than price. Once upon a time, not so very long ago, Shyam Ahuja was the first and last name in floor decor. This was the man who reinvented…

Feature: India Breaks Into A Dance!

So we think we can dance She’s doing the bachata gracefully, torso twisting with every nimble move. Suddenly, she segues into a merengue, her mauve-coloured frilly skirt twirling in counter-rhythm. The audience can’t take its eyes off her, the judges are trying their best to look impassive but their eyes give them away. When the…

Feature: The Amy Chua Interview

‘Insecurity is a prime motivator’ What is The Triple Package that leads to success? Amy Chua has the answer in her latest book. In The Triple Package, Chua and her husband Jed Rubenfeld, both Yale law professors, lay out the premise that three specific traits — a superiority complex, insecurity and impulse control — lie behind…

Feature: On Heroes

Heroes & villains Have we become a jaded nation, suspicious of placing role models on pedestals? Or, are we making heroes out of nonentities? I’m conducting an experiment. I start with my neighbourhood, then move in concentric circles to the world at large. This experiment consists of one question I ask the people I…