New Sunday Express magazine - Comfortably Numb

Opinion: Is all staring offensive?

To stare or not to stare Let me start with a confession. I`m a starer. Put it down to my Malayali genes. For those who are not Mallu or have no Mallu friends (really?): the state of Kerala wins all staring contests hands down. This is no mean feat in a country that stares. We…

Opinion: A manifesto for manifesting things

Long before it became a big thing on TikTok and other socials, the art of manifesting was much beloved of life coaches across the world. Over a decade ago, a close friend would keep urging me to close my eyes and manifest whatever it was that I needed `the universe to do,` assuring me it…

Opinion: Navigating life sans a smartphone

Surving sans a smartphone First, they said keeping your smartphone under your pillow at night carries radiation risks. So, I moved it to a nightstand a little distance away from my bed. Then they said don’t take recourse to the blue light of your smartphone on sleepless nights, so I`d switch on the bedside lamp,…

Column: Getting into all kinds of stuff

Getting into all kinds of stuff Tell me something. Is it just me or have you too noticed a recent trend where one word is freely and frequently misused? I`m talking about the word `into` used as a preposition. For far too many years, I`d been introduced at parties as my husband`s missus, who was…

Guest column: Why are we so loud?

Why are we so loud? I recently watched a video, purportedly a spoof, where an Indian aunty adopts a hectoring tone and shows us how ginger tea is brewed back home in India. I say `back home` because the woman is standing in an American kitchen, heaping much unbridled derision on Americans. Personally, I found…

Guest column: In praise of gratitude

Gratitude comes with side benefits now Gratitude, thankfulness, an awareness of received grace. From time immemorial, this sentiment`s virtues have been extolled far and wide. On the ground though, we all know it is but a fleeting emotion, which sweeps over us at the time of the received grace but doesn’t stay too long afterwards….

Guest column: This is us

This is us The basic truth is, we are operating on a twin level of new normal now. And there is a sizeable population which believes that this new normal is perfectly alright, feeds off on the oftentimes toxic adrenaline released by this new normal, and has slowly integrated it into the mainstream. Covid-19 is…

Guest column: Nostalgia, with a Side of Wistfulness

So, I`m no Luddite but neither am I a Stevie Jobs, with a cutting edge understanding of tech change. However, all those Whatsapp forwarded- many-times clips singing a nostalgic tune about Flit spray cans, bicycle bells and Dalda tins bring forth the merest of smiles, nothing more, in me. Because nostalgia notwithstanding, some things wrought…

Guest column: The 10 Percent Solution

The ten percent solution I wish to state at the outset that I`m not an employee of the Mari Kondo Foundation, and not in that legendary Sorter`s pay, either. But yes, I am making a case for letting go all that we gather and hold like, forever. Let`s face it, we are a species of…

Guest column: Prisoners of the Algorithm

Prisoners of the Algorithm A quick question: What`s to stop us even as we hurtle to hell with our fingers poised to click? The answer is: nothing but our self-control/willpower/ self-discipline. And if you are rolling your eyes at that answer, well, so am I. I came deliberately late to two docudramas fast acquiring cult…