AUNT SHEILA was dead. Although my family does not hold wakes by religious tradition (we are Hindu), my grandfather had picked up the practice from his British boss in India and instituted it in our family.
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All articles filed in Comment Essays
Was it right to fire the Google engineer?
Google shouldn’t have fired the engineer who questioned its diversity efforts — it should have co-opted him
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New York Times “Room for Debate” section
In Hinduism, Respect the Sacred, Ignore the Sexism Shoba Narayan is a columnist and the author of two books: “Monsoon Diary” and “Return to India.“ UPDATED JANUARY 9, 2013, 8:27 AM I am a Hindu. I love my religion’s glorious and imaginative epic stories, in which seers chose the moment they die and goddesses kill the bad…
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Bangalore Diary
“Shoba, you need to be on the back page of Outlook,” said the voice on the phone. “Have a look.” I like “Diary” pages because they imply casual writing. This took a few iterations however. The main dissonance was that I remain an optimist about Bangalore. The first draft was sunny, exuberant even. Thankfully, Krishna, my…
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Living Wills
I first read about this in the Deccan Herald newspaper. I saw the name Periyakoil (which is a Tamilian name). That got me intrigued about the lady behind the name and so this article began. For Quartz. It’s time for Americans to start thinking about how they wish to die Shoba Narayan July 04, 2014…
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Choose Pleasure
Something that I’ve been debating about with very productive friends Choose pleasure over productivity There is a virtual explosion of “productivity” lists on the Internet. You know the kind: 10 ways to make your life more productive; nine habits to ditch if you want to squeeze the most from the first hour of the day;…
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Narendra Modi
As someone who is delighted with what happened in the elections, I just wish our new PM gave speeches that healed and built bridges rather than proclaim himself hero. In Quartz here As usual, the comments interest me: Posting some below. The article is below that. In order of appearance. In response to a question…
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Carme Ruscellada
I was thrilled to meet this chef. She is casual and confident but underneath you can sense her resolve. It appeared in Quartz here. Carme Ruscellada i Serra looks like the seven-star Michelin chef that she is. I met her recently at her restaurant in Barcelona, Moments, to discuss Catalan cuisine, the Mediterranean diet, and…
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Planet Earth: vast and humbling
My rant about how large Planet Earth is; and about the hubris of our species. Sometimes, humans have no clue. Wrote it last night. Out today. The pleasure of web-zines is their immediacy. Reads better in QZ.com here LESSON FROM MALAYSIAN AIRLINES Superstition about travel may be gone—but our respect of it shouldn’t By Shoba…
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Brain Training
The pleasure of filing one day and having it up the next! You should click on the link below and read it in Quartz. Looks nicer MEMORIES… Forget brain workouts—chanting mantras takes half the time and is more effective Shoba Narayan March 19, 2014 Can you remember the last time you forgot something? (Reuters/Edgard Garrido)…
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