Chasing Authenticity In Staged Spaces

Along with other vanishings – of biospecies, languages, cultures – modernity ushers an erasure of authenticity. Tourism, originally fashioned for aristocratic young men from Europe, has morphed into a global ritual that has seeped across classes.

… Continue reading “Tribal Truths and Manufactured Myths”

Like Happiness begins with a New Yorky scene. One that captures the stickiness and muck and strangely alluring grit of its subway rides. But also the forced physical proximity to performers whose music and moves are edged with aggressive asks.

… Continue reading “Like Happiness: The Mirage of Connection in a Post #MeToo Era”

Widows outnumber widowers. The reasons? Many men remarry, and historically, more men have died in wars. Moreover, as Mineke Schipper notes in Widows, 10% of widows today live in extreme poverty, underscoring the vulnerability braided into widowhood.

… Continue reading “Widowhood, Oppression and Acts of Resistance”

Culinary Soul Search

In October 2015, Siddharth Kapila decided to quit his law career. He wanted to travel, find himself, engaging in seemingly care-free acts that only the reasonably well-off can consider. He was aware too of how these choices were girded by privilege.

… Continue reading “Tasting the Divine: Exploring One’s Faith Along The Ganga”

Loneliness Breeds Polarization

Loneliness might not just be an American scourge anymore, but could be seeping into other societies. Teens and aging parents can feel lonely inside families, just as partners might feel adrift inside marriages.

… Continue reading “From Isolation to Illumination: Leveraging Human Connection”

Saikat Majumdar’s novels have a kaleidoscopic quality – you jiggle them this way and that, and you perceive new symmetries, different colours. I had read some of his later works, The Remains of the Body,

… Continue reading “Growing Up Bewildered: Trapped Between The Stage and Reality”

Saunter through the grassy expanses of Cubbon Park on a Saturday morning to encounter the metronomic thump of the BHUKMP runners, their feet synchronized like an acapella group. Zoom in to the blur of faces on those taut bodies to spot the wildly popular Pankaj Rai,

… Continue reading “Running Through Life: The 5 Cs That Define Pankaj Rai’s Journey”

In the throbbing, trafficky heart of our city, history and creativity collide. From ancient sculptures and textiles to modern paintings and pop culture treasures, the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) has it all. The sleek steel facade with its embossed cross pattern spans six floors.

… Continue reading “Transforming India’s Art Scene: Abhishek Poddar’s Journey to Founding MAP”

Feral Winds, Creeping Despair

In “Dread” and “Hunger”, two stories in A Bouquet of Dead Flowers, the Hindi writer Swadesh Deepak explores the unsettling intertwining of desire and deprivation. And of predatory instincts that simmer in situations marked by unequal power relations.

… Continue reading “Exploring Desire and Despair in Swadesh Deepak’s Stories”

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”