Sandeep Narayan’s concert at Chinmaya Mission, Delhi
I heard Sandeep perform in Delhi this evening, after almost a decade. It was a short 90-minute concert and hence, had a hurried feel overall. Bantureeti in Hamsanadam Thyagaraja Yoga Vaibhavam in...
View ArticleLuxury Beliefs
Rob Henderson, the psychologist and writer grew up in nine different homes before his eighth birthday. He was born to an unwed drug junkie who died when he was three. His childhood, as described in his...
View ArticleDay trip to Patna
I did a day trip to Patna which was also my maiden trip to this historical city. The little that I saw of the city from the airport to the Sardar Patel Bhavan looked very much like Ranchi and Rourkela....
View ArticleHikikomori
I read Jonathan Haidt’s ‘The Anxious Generation’ over the weekend. His work, which examines the impact of Social Media on Gen Z, didn’t have too many ideas that I wasn’t already familiar with. The rise...
View ArticleOn Horses
Last year, I spent half a day riding a horse in Pahalgam. Though it was a typical touristy thing to do when in Kashmir, the experience was exhilarating. To get a sense of a horse’s power, its...
View ArticleThe Sexual Exploits and Secret Diaries of Victor Hugo and Keynes
As I had written earlier, I read Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Miserables’ last month and I’ve been busy dipping into the commentaries and analyses of the work. Mario Vargas Llosa’s lectures on ‘Les Miserables’...
View ArticleHeritage Walk-Leader Training Programme
Over the last two weekends, INTACH, in collaboration with ThisDay, organized a Heritage Walk-Leader Training Programme in Delhi. On a whim, I joined it and found it thoroughly enriching. The programme...
View ArticleNational Treasures
Last week, a friend of mine who’s relocating abroad, shared a predicament of his. He has a Jamini Roy in his collection which cannot be shipped to his new residence. It was only then that I got to know...
View ArticleRushdie’s ‘Knife’
Writing about happiness is probably one of the hardest things to do. Writing about trauma is far easier and also cathartic. For Rushdie: Happiness writes in white ink on white pages. In other words,...
View ArticleThe Evolution of the Idea of ‘The West’
How did the idea of the ‘West’ emerge? Naoíse Mac Sweeney, in a sweeping narrative, presents a compelling argument in The West: A New History in Fourteen Lives. The Greek and Roman empires are central...
View ArticleVivian Gornick on Picasso…
There’s a famous photograph of Robert Capa’s that has been pinned to the bulletin board above my desk for a number of years. It was taken in 1948 on a beach in France, and it shows a smiling young...
View ArticleShahnaz Habib’s ‘Airplane Mode’
The only thing I knew about Shahnaz Habib’s ‘Airplane Mode’ was that it was a book on travel that had garnered a decent amount of attention. Within a few pages, to my delight, I discovered that the...
View ArticleBharat Sundar at IIC
Bharat Sundar sang at the India International Center a few weeks back; a short, brisk concert without too many fireworks. Karpagame in Malayamarutham Sogasuga Mridunga in Sriranjani (hearing this after...
View ArticleSouth Side Story Music Festival 2024
The South Side Story, is organizing their annual South Indian music festival in Delhi this weekend. I went yesterday and caught Sithara of Project Malabaricus, TM Krishna and Agam performing live....
View ArticleChristianity in Europe Today
Over the weekend, I read the French political theorist Olivier Roy’s superb ‘Is Europe Christian?’ and was mighty impressed by his analysis and arguments. The transformations of Christianity since the...
View ArticleThe Codification of Culture
Like most migrants, I insist, with moderate success, that my daughters speak their mother tongue (Malayalam), diligently expose them to Malayalam cinema (highly successful), feed them Kerala’s cuisine...
View ArticleDiscovery of the Indus Valley Civilization
Until September 1924, India’s history was considered to have begun not more than 2500 years (500 BC max) ago. That month, John Marshall, the Director General of the ASI, in a piece published in the...
View Article