Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Deepavali feasting (or fasting)
Pulchritudinous? Seriously? Is that a compliment-worthy word? Read on In The National Before a feast goes to your hips, reach for the thesaurus Shoba Narayan Nov 12, 2012 Nowadays, over lunch and dinner, I make my husband repeat a litany of compliments. “You look beautiful, my darling,” he tells me as I fork in some rice and vegetables. “The broccoli in particular makes your skin glow like the surface of the moon.” And then he loses interest and says, more in character, “Yada yada yada … you know what I mean.” This isn’t some new form of torture that I [...]
Carnatic and Western classical Part 1
One of the pleasures of writing is to hear back from readers who have views that are opposite your own; and who are able to educate you about their area of expertise. A while ago, I wrote a piece in Mint about western classical music conductors here. I heard back from a reader who told me about a conductor I had never heard about. Thus began an email exchange about Carnatic music and Classical music. I have-- with his permission-- pasted it below. He lives in New Delhi and his name (fake but authentic to his region) is Bijoy Banerjee. [...]
Speaking English
I don't like my column in this week's Mint. To do it right, I should have delved deeper into the "personality" of languages; and delved deeper into the notion of mother tongue. But being neck deep in badam halwa and other Deepavali sweets, this is the best I could do. So I was pleasantly surprised to see this Reuter's response to the piece, which, by the way, I like better than the piece itself. One comment has already come and calls my attitude "intensely offensive." It says that I was-- to use psychology parlance-- projecting. Maybe I was, although I [...]
Mothers and Daughters
I love writing for The National. It is hard for my family to access-- certainly for my kids-- so it is easy to be open. This one is a piece on a topic that is so close to my heart (and heartbreak). It goes out to all mothers with teenage daughters. As for the Dads with daughters, all I have to say is: You lucky dogs!!! My kids, by the way, don't read The National, and I am not about to correct this situation. Between mothers and daughters, it's always complicated Shoba Narayan Nov 6, 2012 Save this article She [...]
Review of Return to India in the Deccan Herald
My kids tease me that I am congenitally in favor of the underdog; that I reflexively support, yes, the underdog. This single word has been used as an accusation towards me. For example, I'll say something like, "Oh, come on. That band is not all that bad," and my daughter will yell, "Underdog." I am part of a mailing list called "Silk List" and I reflexively defend Arundhati Roy in this (largely male) group, not because I've read her stuff beyond "The God of Small Things" which I loved, loved, but because she is, in my view a maligned underdog. [...]
Business World review
And a good one here. Business World book review Title: Return to India Author: Shoba Narayan Publisher: Rupa Publications Price : Rs. 395 Most young Indians desire is to go and make a career outside India. Surely, the most sought after destination is the United States of America. Every youth would love to escape the education system in India and complete the graduation and beyond in USA. Affordability is one important deterrent. One other way to get in is to do very well and get an admission with as much scholarship as one could get. The other way [...]
The Hindu review
The Hindu review of Return to India here The human mind when faced with criticism reacts in a formulaic way-- which as a lifelong student of psychology-- interests me. There is denial, rejection, scorn, and rationalization. I went through all this as I read this harsh review. The first bit is true. Lots of people have said that the immigrant phenomenon is old and overdone. Agreed. But this is a book that I had to write and so I did. It is the second bit that I found mean-spirited, particularly when Ms. Roy calls me "daft" and my husband balanced. [...]
Bald Men
Inside the brave new world of the bald Why going bald is an epidemic Shoba Narayan First Published: Thu, Oct 25 2012. 06 45 PM IST Smooth operator: Down south, Rajinikanth’s lead role in the film Sivaji supposedly triggered the craze for going bald. RELATED Waiting for the next Zubin Mehta The power of navel energy A space for gender-bending realities Customized cupcakes and south Indian tiffins We are witnessing the beginning of an epidemic. Let me give you a clue. What do the following men have in common: poet and novelist Jeet Thayil, dancer Akram Khan, musician Chris Daughtry [...]
Waiting for the next Zubin Mehta for Mint Lounge
Waiting for the next Zubin Mehta Why haven’t any of India’s great institutions produced world-class Western classical musical talent? Shoba Narayan First Published: Fri, Oct 19 2012. 06 00 PM IST A concert in progress at Mumbai’s NCPA, home to the The Symphony Orchestra of India. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint RELATED The dramatic and soulful orchestra men The Bangalore School of Music is celebrating its silver jubilee. The Delhi School of Music is close to its golden jubilee. The Calcutta School of Music, founded in 1915, is even older. Chennai has two recent institutions dedicated to non-Indian music: A.R. Rahman’s KM [...]
About aging
Some articles I agonize over. Some are a gift from the muse. This one was the latter. I dashed it off in half hour in the midst of hectic activity. Click here for the piece Life's grandest challenge: watching those we love age Shoba Narayan Oct 21, 2012 My father shuffles. It pains - and irritates - me to watch him. But that's how he walks these days. He is 80 years old, more fit than my mother and my in-laws, but still not the lithe vibrant man he once was. When I ask my dad if he has any [...]