Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Growth and Green
Striking a balance in India between growth and green Shoba Narayan Feb 6, 2011 next previous After 20 years in the US, my husband and I decided to uproot our family five years ago and move back to India, the country of our birth. It was a decision fraught with confusion and conflict, mostly because America's pleasures were very tangible whereas everything that we were moving back for was intangible and immeasurable. How to quantify the value of having our children grow up yards from their grandparents? What we were giving up, on the other hand, was easy to [...]
Urgent need to preserve baby girls
An urgent need to preserve and value baby girls in India Shoba Narayan (Writer) Apr 16, 2011 "Would you kill a child? Would you kill your grandchild? I have seen women do this and, believe me, it is not difficult. Give the newborn milk laced with pesticides or poisonous herbs. The infant will suck the milk greedily and die within an hour." The speaker was my uncle. The place was Salem district in interior Tamil Nadu. What he was talking about was the fairly routine practice of female infanticide practised in the nearby villages. This was more than 10 years [...]
How not to forget
Is my problem genetics or just modern life? I forget Shoba Narayan Dec 7, 2010 Tom Cruise has been in and out of the UAE recently, filming the Mission Impossible sequel. I have a message for him. Tom, if you're reading this, why not get one of those scientist guys on set to design, not a gizmo that self-destructs, but one that self-reflects. Allow me to explain. I misplaced my library cards last week and have been turning my home upside down searching for them. As I scramble through bed linen, clean out closets and scurry behind shelves in [...]
For The National Abu Dhabi on Chennai
For The National Travel pages here and pasted below Chennai is at the art of the matter Shoba Narayan Jan 22, 2011 next previous Why Chennai? To get a taste of south Indian culture; because this city of 7.6 million people, on India's Coromandel coast has preserved its essential character more so than cosmopolitan Bangalore or politically volatile Hyderabad; because it is my hometown, a city that I love. In Chennai, you get a real sense of place, time and history that is lacking in many other Indian metros (save Kolkata). If you are an archaeology buff, the nearby temple [...]
Profile of art historian Dr. BN Goswamy for Mint Lounge
My profile of Professor B. N. Goswamy in Mint Lounge this week. Here and pasted below. Look at art intently, and with patience As someone who loves abstract and contemporary art, I am a little rattled by Prof. Goswamy’s obvious love for ancient Indian art Prof. Brijendra Nath Goswamy is in Bangalore to deliver Tasveer Foundation’s inaugural lecture. I have been allowed to take him out for an hour. Where does one take a man who is arguably India’s foremost art historian? I consider a ride in our new Metro to Angadi Silks or Vimor to buy a sari for [...]
Why I’m raging against Kolaveri for Mint Lounge
Why I’m raging over ‘Kolaveri’ In the end, it is only a song, not world peace The Good Life | Shoba Narayan Why don’t I like the Kolaveri Di song? That’s the question that’s been bothering me all last week. Am I not Tamilian enough to like it? Am I too Tamilian? It has morphed into a full-blown identity crisis. Everyone around me— family, friends—is raving about it. Interestingly, though, the other Tamilians who populate my life (milk lady, flower man, ironing man, vegetable vendor, help) don’t mention the song during our daily conversations about news and views. Out of sync: The [...]
Conflict about Facebook
Does this essay which appeared in M magazine explain my conflict about Facebook? Here in the M website and pasted below. My life: Shoba Narayan on social networking Shoba Narayan Dec 7, 2011 As a memoir writer and columnist, I am comfortable with the first-person narrative. I write about the events and people in my life. I disclose what some would view as intimate details about my spouse, my marriage, my children, my pets and my parents. I am not a private person. Yet I find I have a deep disquiet about posting on Facebook. It doesn't make sense; it [...]
Sabyasachi Mukherjee profile for The National Abu Dhabi
I spent two days hanging around Sabysachi. He's an interesting man. Here is a story about him that appeared in The National. Also pasted below. The sari warrior Shoba Narayan Nov 26, 2011 The fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee is sitting on the floor of his sprawling workshop in Kolkata, surrounded by 10 people. All around are piles of fabric. There are rich brocades in pink and purple, hardy indigo-dyed cloth, swatches of airy beige voile, rich Benares silks and nubby cotton. Two men sit on a desk, drawing floral designs that will end up as borders on his saris and [...]
In the Mood for Love
Lust and danger in particular make for a compelling combination. In my view however, the directors who truly understand the nuances of lust and danger are Wong Kar-wai and Ang Lee, two Asian directors who operate in a global milieu.
Bengali Films for Mint Lounge
In the midst of a Kolkata Ferment Cultural ‘adda’: Generations have grown up watching movies at Kolkata’s Priya Cinema. 5 min read . Shoba Narayan I feel like I am in a Bengali movie. Wait, that’s too easy. I am in Kolkata, after all, at the top floor of Priya Cinema, which, according to some, is the hub of Bengali cinema. I want a better [...]