Where Play Fuels Genius

Mitchel Resnick’s book is a critical read for many reasons. But especially because Resnick practices the learning approaches he endorses, and not just at any place, but at one of the meccas of education – MIT.

… Continue reading “Kindergarten Lessons: Mitchel Resnick’s Blueprint for Lifelong Creativity”

Vedic Monism Meets Sufism

Sufism embodies mystical strands in Islam. When large numbers of Sufis swept into India in the 12th Century, their philosophy echoed the Vedic concept of “monism”. With “service to humanity” as their abiding ideal,

… Continue reading “Sufi Mystics, Sacred Paths: Sarmad’s Enduring Legacy”

Curiosity Sparks Cake Making

Anu Sinha was only 11-years-old and in Class Five, when she baked her first cake. Growing up in the early ‘80s in the Bokaro Steel City, she hadn’t thought much about cakes or ovens,

… Continue reading “From Tandoors to Tiered Triumphs: Anu Sinha’s Journey to Cake Artistry”

Assam has a rich history shaped by its indigenous cultures, the Ahom dynasty’s six-century reign, and British colonial rule. The State played a pivotal role in India’s struggle for independence but has since simmered with ethnic conflicts and movements for autonomy.

… Continue reading “Shadows and Scars: Finding Love and Identity in Assam”

In the lush surroundings of Barbari, “a small town with a big population” nestled close to the tea garden of Kalguri, the narrator grows up in a world that feels relatively cushioned.

Barbari,

… Continue reading “Between Tea Leaves and Tensions: Growing Up in Barbari, Assam”

An Encounter with Her Own Fame

Like her books, Agatha Christie’s life contained layers and mysteries. Once while travelling on a train, incognito, she heard two other middle-aged women discussing her. With her books on their laps signifying how widespread her readership was,

… Continue reading “Agatha Christie Unveiled: Hidden Layers of the Queen of Crime”

I’m probably not the first writer to consider how anthropologists and novelists are remarkably similar. Both pay attention to seemingly ordinary stuff – rituals, habits, rumors, gossip, everyday frictions, tiny miracles or small setbacks that stitch up our everydays.

… Continue reading “The Anthropologists: Crafting Everyday Rituals To Shore Up Identity”

Jamia Millia: Sparked by a Crisis

Jamia Millia Islamia was forged by a crisis. A response to Gandhi’s call for non-cooperation required an abandoning of settings funded or supported by the British. Indian Muslims who withdrew from Aligarh Muslim University had to quickly cobble together a place that would fuse modern lessons with Islamic traditions.

… Continue reading “From Berlin to Jamia Millia: A Woman’s Enduring Legacy”

We are all housed inside our bodies. Yet, many of us may not feel “at home” – perhaps because our identity or sexuality or racial or ethnic origins may compel us to feel like perpetual outsiders.

… Continue reading “The Remains of the Body: Navigating Identity, Desire, and Belonging”

I live in what is called the “startup capital” of the nation. While we have witnessed the voracious swallowing of erstwhile villages into a mushrooming city, many of us peer from the rims into a dizzying vortex of startups founded,

… Continue reading “Sandeep Singhal: Pioneering India’s Venture Capital Revolution”

Growing Together: Childhood with a Twin

As the daughter of an army officer, Tina Mansukhani Garg was accustomed to moving around the country, switching schools, navigating new localities, learning languages, tasting unfamiliar foods.

… Continue reading “From Twinship to Trailblazing: The Journey of a Visionary Founder”

For those of you who have read  A House For Mr. Biswas  by V.S. Naipaul,  The Naipauls of Nepaul Street  feels like a rich ploughing into the soil that birthed the famed novel.

… Continue reading “A Memoir of Literary Roots and Family Legacy”

Kabir is both widely known and cited, but also obscure. Few know about his own life and origins. Some believe he was abandoned by a Brahmin widow and later raised by Muslims. Historians refute this.

… Continue reading “Embrace Paradoxes: Kabir’s Teachings on Unity and Impermanence”

Mumbai is a city that oozes mayhem, murder and mischief. The layered island city is an apt setting for young adult detectives whose summer has been hemmed in by a contagious, pockmarking disease: chicken pox.

… Continue reading “Sleuths in Scabs: The Chicken Pox Club’s Deadly Discovery”

The first compelling graphic novel I read was Persepolis in which a young Iranian girl grows up through the Islamic revolution. Persian Nights by Alaka Rajan Skinner also brings the revolution into our sights,

… Continue reading “Through the Eyes of a Child: Immigrant Dilemmas Amid Revolution”

Given that hordes are already accessing ChatGPT, or AI in some form or the other, Madhumita Murgia’s book on the human consequences of an “intelligence” that is being rapidly unfurled across domains – from buttressing legal arguments to diagnosing medical conditions,

… Continue reading “From Silicon Valley to Remote Villages: Human Consequences of AI”

I hadn’t realized till I encountered this book that at a certain period in the 19th Century, Britain was in fact a Muslim Empire. As John Slight, currently a Senior Lecturer in Imperial and Global History at The Open University puts it in The Hajj and Britain’s Muslim Empire,

… Continue reading “Empire and Pilgrimage: The Hajj in Britain’s Muslim Empire”

Even in 2024, India’s female workforce participation is appallingly lower than it should be for an economy that claims to be zipping ahead of many others. It’s both instructive and salutary to read of forceful women from the nation’s past,

… Continue reading “Trailblazer in a Saree: The Defiant Journey of Anandibai Joshee”

Every once in a while, in our digitally-addled age, it feels both necessary and worthwhile to dip into a Cal Newport book or article. As an MIT-trained scientist who also teaches the subject at Georgetown University,

… Continue reading “From Busy to Fulfilled: The Slow Productivity Revolution”

At business events or even at social to-dos, Shilpa Sharma has often faced a sudden tap on the shoulder, followed by an awestruck: “Omigod, you’re the founder of Jaypore?” Soon enough, women in the room flock to her with fangirl giggles and selfie requests.

… Continue reading “Crafting Her Destiny: The Unconventional Journey of Shilpa Sharma”