Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Mayer’s Miscalculation
As a feminist, I was troubled by the brouhaha that erupted when Mayer announced her pregnancy. This piece for Mint is a reaction. Columns Posted: Fri, Jul 27 2012. 10:31 PM IST Mayer’s miscalculation While Mayer announced her pregnancy in an interview, it was the casual Twitter announcement that opened her up to scrutiny and criticism. The Good Life | Shoba Narayan Ten years after Betty Friedan was dismissed from her job for being pregnant with her second child, she wrote the bestselling book, “The Feminine Mystique,” that sparked the second wave of feminism. One day after Marissa Mayer, the [...]
Return to India
It has been a month of weddings. Glorious food, beautiful sarees, fragrant mogra and jasmine-- can there be anything more sensual than an Indian wedding? I returned home to an email from my editor in Delhi. She gave me the good news that my book is now available on pre-order at Flipkart. Here is the link
The Cow Chronicles: Part 1
Although this happened in December, I only wrote it now mostly because I wanted to do it right-- for my heroine, as well. The good news is that someone has written to me offering to buy her another cow. Fri, Jun 22 2012. 8:06 PM IST The cow chronicles: a loss and a replacement It occurs to me that I am hearing a new solution to lactose intolerance: Change your cow The Good Life | Shoba Narayan Sarala needs a cow. She tells me this when I chide her for giving me less milk that morning. It is 7am. The [...]
Marriage Songs
While practicing songs for my friend's wedding, I came across this rendition of the famous "Seetha Kalyana" by my guru, Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna here. It doesn't have the pep of Sudha Raghunathan's Marriage Songs CD but it suits his voice.
Why you should drop your culinary crutches– for Mint Lounge
Why you should drop your culinary crutches For professional restaurateurs and chefs, introducing the element of surprise is tricky because the spontaneous creativity that leads to surprise goes against the cardinal rule of a restaurant kitchen: consistency The Good Life | Shoba Narayan Two years ago, Olive Beach, a restaurant in Bangalore, made a special tasting menu for a group called The Bangalore Black Tie, of which I am a member. Typically, these are off-menu dishes that the chef specially crafts for the group, paired with wine. Each member pays a fixed price. What was unusual about this meal was [...]
Royal Enfield for The National Abu Dhabi
Royal Enfield reinventing the wheels Shoba Narayan Jun 7, 2012 In what could have been a risky manoeuvre, the 119-year old brand of Royal Enfield redesigned its motorbikes. Beloved in India, the new motorbikes are meant to be sleeker and quieter. The drumbeat-like thump of the engine is gone but the ride is still low and heavy. The retro look remains, albeit with some mechanical liposuction. "Our design philosophy was to take all the essential characteristics of what makes a Royal Enfield bike and bring them into the 21st century," says Siddhartha Lal, the managing director and chief executive [...]
About cool ideas and backflips
Lounge Posted: Fri, Jun 1 2012. 9:30 PM IST The real lasting power of two True Einsteinian, Jobs-like innovation comes from your solar plexus; from your gut; from your soul The Good Life | Shoba Narayan Where do cool ideas come from? Every year, the online salon Edge.org poses one question and gets a bunch of smart people to answer it. The 2011 question was: What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit? The answers, compiled as a book with the laughably ambitious title,This Will Make You Smarter: New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking, has 165 contributions from eminent thinkers on [...]
For Cathay Pacific magazine on Health Resorts
A piece that appeared in Silkroad Airline magazine here Bangalore Health Resorts
Indian fusion music
I am enjoying some fusion music. Began with Dagar Brothers (raag Malkauns)-- which is definitely not fusion. But since people keep asking me for music recommendations, particularly Matt from Memphis, and Chris from Melbourne, here you go. Can't find your emails so I hope you see this. Rajesh Vaidhya plays the veena. This is a beautiful, ancient instrument. Raavan was a master at playing the veena. Nowadays, few Carnatic musicians play the veena and few Hindustani musicians play the rudra veena. I like Rajesh Vaidhya's fusion of Tamil songs which is on Youtube here I think Bala Bhaskar is [...]
Bangalore Art Scene
A piece in FT here