Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Evolution of Music
Chennai, the city I grew up in and still call home is in the throes of a creative ferment, at least with respect to Carnatic music. This has caused some apoplexy and bile among many keen ‘rasikas’ or lovers of music, who live in homes where even the pillars sing, as an ancient Tamil poem said about the author of the Tamil Ramayan, poet Kamban’s home. These are homes in the bylanes of T. Nagar and Mylapore where the home-ground Narasu’s coffee (my father drinks it) is piping hot and frothy.
The Indian mind and the lunar calendar: for Mint Lounge
Calendars (Chinese, Lunar, Gregorian) are fascinating in how they tell time. I am reading about this, and hence wrote this piece. HOME» LEISURE» THE GOOD LIFE The Indian mind and the lunar calendar Familiarizing yourself with the Indian lunar calendar is one of the ways by which one can access India’s heritage and mindset E-mailPrint Shoba Narayan This is the winter season in the Indian calendar. We call it Shishir Ritu (mid-January to mid-March) or leaf-letting season in Tamil. Fat, golden, tired leaves are tumbling from the trees, creating miniature typhoons. Temperatures rise and fall. In Indian towns, people sit [...]
Perfume and communing with god: Mint Lounge
Don't understand Mint's headline for this piece. What does will o wisps mean? Maybe from a poem. But I find this notion of ancient humans communing with the heavens through wisps of smoke very touching. Scents are fascinating. Fragrance, will-o’-the-wisps and prayer How do you scent your home? Do you use oriental lilies and tuberose? The best scents create memories for residents and visitors Mutrah Souq in Muscat, Oman, is not as large as Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, nor is it as visually interesting. Most of the bigger shops that sell frankincense, spices, nuts and attar are run by Indians. At [...]
Emotional ecstasy: painter V. Ramesh
The painter, V. Ramesh, is sitting cross-legged on the floor of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Bangalore, talking about four female poets and their experience of mysticism. All around us are Ramesh’s large canvases, depicting these four women poets who have been a source of inspiration for his recent work. Ramesh discovered them in the library of the Ramana ashram in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.
Carnatic Music vs. Harry Potter
Like jazz, Carnatic music allows for a lot of improvisation. Most concerts begin with improvisation. We call it alapana. And like jazz riffs, you can traverse the musical universe with your imaginative singing and then return to the base, in time with the beat, of course. It is this bit that I cannot do. I can learn and render countless straightforward compositions, but I don’t have the imagination and confidence for improvisation.
Song from the navel
Song from the navel One of the tough things about writing is that the piece that you think is great will not resonate with readers and the piece that you think is so-so will elicit unusual responses. FIRST PUBLISHED: SAT, JAN 11 2014. 12 50 AM ISTHOME» LEISURE» THE GOOD LIFE Music should begin at the ‘nabi’ or navel, move to the ‘hrud’ or heart, then ‘kanta’ or throat, and give the ‘rasa’ or emotion Shoba Narayan A song from the navel Narayan’s teacher prefers that she practise before dawn. Photo: Aniruddha Chowdhury/Mint My music practice always begins with [...]
Immerse yourself in another culture for Mint Lounge
Mint Lounge's New Year issue is based on a great premise: new experiences. Lots of great stories: adopting a stray, rainwater harvesting, grieving your parents, being a mentor, taking trips, finding yourself.
25 things to feel happy about
What's your list? Thank you, Manish Sabharwal, Nitin Pai, Narayan Ramachandran, and Nikhil Mehra for the suggestions/contributions Sat, Dec 28 2013. 12 34 AM IST The Contrarian View | 25 things to feel happy about Performing chief ministers, a successful move to explore Mars, a TV show that didn’t make us wince and more. Who says it was all gloom and doom this year? Deepika Padukone 1 Anjali Tendulkar gets to see more of her husband. 2 Deepika Padukone is a bona-fide stactress (star-actress). Six years old. Nearly a dozen endorsements and four `100 crore-plus hits this year. And she [...]
Delhi’s fetid desire, Mumbai’s petrol fumes: inspired by Mahmoud Darwish
Whose writing I adore. A niche brand of perfume called Carlos Huber makes a scent based on a boutonniere Delhi’s fetid desire, Mumbai’s petrol fumes Can you smell the ‘garam masala’ and greed in Delhi? Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint The best writing on scent comes from the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who writes, not about the “scent of a woman” or a man, but about cities. It is so evocative that I am compelled to quote it: “Cities are smells: Acre is the smell of iodine and spices. Haifa is the smell of pine and wrinkled sheets. Moscow is the [...]
Sparkling wine: how does it work: for Mint Lounge
I wanted to meet two sisters in the food and wine business. Their elderflower juice was so aromatic. FIRST PUBLISHED: SAT, DEC 14 2013. 01 18 AM ISTHOME» LEISURE» THE GOOD LIFE Wines, economy and culture preservation What kind of wines would you put together for an office party? Shoba Narayan Mail Me Wines, economy and culture preservation Juliette (right) and Marie Mommousseau were in Bangalore recently. Photo: Aniruddha Chowdhury/Mint A reader wants to know: What kind of wines would you put together for an office party, assuming a budget of Rs.2,000 per bottle? I put this question to Juliette [...]