I always knew my own mother-in-law was uncommon. Uncommonly progressive, tolerant and kind; a gentle, mindful presence who stayed remarkably non-judgmental during the humdrum bickering that most couples engage in. So reading The Mother-In-Law by Veena Venugopal,

… Continue reading “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi: A Contemporary Look At Indian Mothers-in-Law”

Sudhir Kakar has penned works that travel through the specific contours of the Indian psyche, burrowing not only into academic sources and formal accounts, but also into the country’s myths, folktales, songs and superstitions. Kakar,

… Continue reading “Delving Into A Historic Relationship Between Two Idealists”

I remember, as a school child in India, contending with ‘keds’ – shoes fashioned from thin white canvas with rubbery green soles – often pockmarked with holes from stubbing against stones or thorns. While we scampered around as best we could in these,

… Continue reading “Lessons From An Inspiring Founder”

Elizabeth Day was divorced by 36. Moreover, she ‘failed’ to have the children she once wanted. She failed a driving test. She’s had a litany of failures – big and small, significant and trivial – that most of us are likely to have racked up,

… Continue reading “A Novelist and Podcaster Gleans Lessons From Failures”

The Fat. So? podcast starts with a cheery dare, as if inviting bullies and the Body-size Police, to arrest or punish the feisty voices that declare: “I’m fat and I love getting compliments about the way I look.

… Continue reading “The Inspiring Life Stories of the Fat. So? Podcasters”

As a writer, I have often dipped into the works of Amit Chaudhuri, as a masterclass in craft. His novels, stories and essays shimmer with images, the sort that Gustave Flaubert managed to evoke in Madame Bovary: with words that are supple,

… Continue reading “The Makings of a Musical Writer”

I don’t remember when I first read a story by Alice Munro. I don’t remember which year it was, or even where I was, while reading it – at our apartment in Domlur, inside the British Council Library,

… Continue reading “Lessons From Writers: Engaging with Alice Munro’s Genius”

Given that, every morning, I confront the silvered-streaked intimations of mortality sprouting from my head, I am increasingly curious about people who seem to embody positive aging. Folks, who despite their advancing years, are as high-spirited and sprightly as the youngest generations.

… Continue reading “Life Lessons From the Ever-buoyant and Ageless Shobhaa De”

Rethinking Growth for Its Own Sake

Do we really need more evidence than the discernible changes in weather patterns, the wildfires, the untimely rains, heatwaves and floods to realize that climate change is upon us?

… Continue reading “Juliet Schor Proposes That We Pursue Different Forms of Wealth”

Paul Fernandes is the kind of person who sees riches everywhere: in dry, crackling leaves, in shrunken seeds, or in any other kind of wilted tree dropping that most of us would sweep aside. On one of the walls in his aPaulogy Gallery on Pottery Road (https://apaulogy.com/),

… Continue reading “The Story of An Extraordinary Artist: Paul Fernandes Captures the Nation’s Urban Past”

The makeup of Indian millennials – their belief systems, their aspirations and anxieties – should, as Vivan Marwaha observes in What Millennials Want, matter not just to Indian watchers and policy makers, but also to global decision makers.

… Continue reading “The Makeup of Indian Millennials: A Writer Charts Their Hopes and Fears”

A Bohemian Childhood

Anjali Patel Mehta, the founder of Verandah, a resort and lounge wear brand, did not envisage her future in fashion.

After all, she was climbing the rungs in Investment Banking,

… Continue reading “Anjali Patel Mehta, Founder of Verandah, Navigates a Remarkable Pivot from Banking into Fashion”

Though I have spent most of the last three decades of my adult life in Bengaluru, India, I have been part-enthralled and part-appalled by the well-known storming of the Scripps National Spelling Bee by Indian American contestants.

… Continue reading “A Riveting Narrative About Hyper Education in the U.S.”

If you’re curious about the culture of “romance” among millennials in London, Dolly Alderton’s Ghosts might offer some unnerving insights. Her protagonist, Nina George Dean, is a thirty-two year old on the hunt for a fairytale ending to her singledom.

… Continue reading “A Glimpse into the Travails of Modern Romance”

A Childhood Inside Theatres

Shernaz Patel grew up inside the stir of auditoriums, imbibing the rhythms and murmurs of a workplace fitted out with lights and satiny curtains. Her parents, Ruby and Burjor Patel,

… Continue reading “Shernaz Patel Recounts the Story of a Passionate Career”