Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
The Chennai music season decoded: for Mint Lounge
Chuffed that Ranjani Gayathri posted this piece in their Facebook page (Ra-Ga). Nice acronym. Sat, Dec 07 2013. 12 09 AM IST The Chennai music season decoded A primer to Chennai’s music and dance festival Shoba Narayan Ranjani and Gayathri perform with Charumathi Raghuraman This is the time of year when my Klout score drastically increases. Thanks simply to the fact that I grew up in Chennai and am interested in music and dance, my popularity reaches an all-time high, with friends, acquaintances and even cordial enemies from across the globe asking about Chennai’s December season. It is also the [...]
Wine Palate: how to figure it out: for Mint Lounge
Wine wisdom: figure out your palate The problem with wine-talk is that unless you are in the company of oenophiles, no matter what you say, it sounds pretentious. You can blather on about the bouquet of a good Frescobaldi or the greatness of the 2009 vintage. For the average person you might as well be talking about Gaussian elimination or Markov chains. Terms like bouquet, finish, and terroir mean specific things to experts but are meaningless to the general population. In India, the problem is compounded by the fact that imported wines are stored and transported in shoddy conditions, turning [...]
Why a dance is worth a thousand words: for Mint Lounge
Classical and folk dances are the best way to connect to your culture-- my view. Why a dance is worth a thousand words Seeing dance from an audience perspective is one thing. Doing it is another pleasure entirely One of the most stunning performance pieces that I saw this year was by actor Jyoti Dogra who used her India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) grant to create a piece called Notes on Chai. The piece had no accompaniments, music or props. It was just one woman—Dogra—on stage in a black costume. She began by making these weird sounds and nasal [...]
In the spirit of global philanthropy
In the spirit of global philanthropy The Good Life | Shoba Narayan Well-endowed: Wealthy Indians often donate to alma mater overseas, such as Harvard University. Wikipedia Updated: Thu, Oct 07 2010. 08 34 PM IST So Anand Mahindra has given $10 million (around Rs44.3 crore) to Harvard. I know, I know. I saw the emails too. “Why do India’s rich make large donations to foreign universities?” His money; his prerogative. And others have done it before him. The Murthys have donated $5.2 million to Harvard to establish the Murty Classical Library of India; the Nilekanis have donated $5 million for [...]
Indian Philanthropy
Thanks, Vidya, for pointing out that this wasn't there in my website. The big idea: Indian philanthropy Shoba Narayan Comment E-mail Print First Published: Sat, Aug 04 2007. 11 05 AM IST Vanaja Ramprasad wants to usher in a green revolution Updated: Tue, Aug 14 2007. 04 30 PM IST Philanthropy is a funny thing. All of us, and by that I mean the readership of this newspaper, have the urge to do good, give back, and effect change. Yet, each of us is bound by quirks and nostalgia. Many give to religious charities: Why do Amitabh Bachchan and the [...]
Why we dance? for Mint Lounge
I have become interested in dancing recently, perhaps because I have been doing it. This November 17th is Pournami or full moon day. Planning a folk dance in my building similar to what is described below. HOME» LEISURE» THE GOOD LIFE Add a new ingredient to festivities: dance Group dances involve community; they involve meeting and dancing face to face Shoba Narayan It was at Devi Garh resort in Delwara, Rajasthan, that I got my first inkling of how Indian festivals should be celebrated. I was there in October, during Navratri. My room was on the highest floor. Every night, [...]
The Gifting season
What a treat to write this piece! Wish there was room to put some more photos in the paper. So included some below. This is the first LV bag that I love, love, love. I saw those Michelle Williams ads that are all over the place and thought, "I want that." If it didn't cost 5000 Euros, I would buy it. I may still. Damn, I want that bag. Just gorgeous. Claire Malet is my new favorite. Just look at her work here. Take risks, make your gifts special Shoba Narayan A Nappa Dori bag I imagine that the tradition [...]
Be the woman of your choice: for Mint Lounge
The piece below had the following comment from a reader. More than KV Kamath, the credit in ICICI should go to N Vaghul. The environment was conducive for the growth of women managers and the necessary flexibility was extended to women. They were given leadership roles during his tenure and by the time KVK came in most of them (lalita, kalpana, Chanda, Shikha, renuka et al) were in very senior positions. Of course, it is to KVKs credit that he took things to their logical conclusion and other women managers rose to prominence as well. Recently a global fund manager [...]
Women– conformists and rebels: for Mint Lounge
It gave me a lot of pleasure to write this piece. I think my mother in law is fascinating. She stayed with me for six months recently and it was a learning experience. She, like many of her generation, inhabits her identity so firmly and easily, without much angst or internal conflict. She does Varalakshmi puja, cuts fruit every morning, observes all kinds of Hindu rituals and calls herself a "housewife." But she is so much more. Either she compartmentalizes really well, or she sees no contradiction between doing 'womanly chores' as she calls it and being a feminist. Maybe [...]
Why you may not be as cultured as you think: for Mint Lounge
Nice response to the piece below in Livemint website. I wish The Skeptarian, whoever she or he is had said some more. I don't agree with her or his notions about culture as talking to sweeper. That's my milklady version. The Skeptarian • 7 hours ago −This article just re-articulates a certain sameness in our thinking, a tired view of culture that equates it with the arts. Culture is not that at all. In its truest sense, culture is about a certain catholicity in one's sensibility. It is the ability to let go of one's identity; in fact, it is [...]