Features - Comfortably Numb

Feature: The flamenco disapora

The gypsy`s India connect The Roma gypsies, who have a strong India connect, are largely reviled even as their music and dance is revered I’m sitting inside a small cave high up in a barrio (district) in the Sacromonte hills of Granada in Spain, which has willy-nilly been home to marginalised groups like the Romani…

Feature: So, What`s the Goss?

Don`t tell anyone, okay? Like it or not, gossip makes the world go round. The savvy thing here would be to stay on top of the rumour mills. A few lessons on managing the eternally thrumming grapevine. Ask me all about gossip. I know. I was living and working in the capital…

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…

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: 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…