Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Blooming tabebuias and drooping jacarandas
Bangalore Talkies: Blooming tabebuias and drooping jacarandas Shoba Narayan on the lesser-known side of Bengaluru—a city of nature lovers, tree huggers and flower peckers (the bird, not the human) Have you seen ‘Wild Karnataka’, the film? It just won the national award, even though as one naturalist, rather snarkily, said, “It should have been called Wild Kabini—not Karnataka.” That’s the thing you see. Not many people know this but Bengaluru is a city of nature lovers, tree huggers and flower peckers (the bird, not the human). They hike to Rangaswamy Betta, Savandurga, Nandi [...]
Bangalore Talkies: Moonwalking at night on city streets
Bangalore Talkies: Moonwalking at night on city streets Bengaluru’s streets are like moon craters. Why bother with Mars rovers, Shoba Narayan contends, when you can barely walk on Magadi road? If you are asthmatic, don’t come to Bangalore. If you have dust allergies, this ain’t the place for you. If you have balance issues, be especially careful as you pick your way through the mounds and valleys that have now become common here. Bangalore’s streets are like moon craters. Why bother with Mars rovers, I say, when you can barely walk on Magadi [...]
The trouble with wineglasses
The trouble with wineglasses View it in Sommelier India magazine here. Take any wine group and the talk eventually turns to stemware. Recently, in Bangalore, there was a flurry of discussion, and much hand-wringing, about how to preserve and use wine glasses. People complained with “crying face” emojis about how household help was breaking their precious wine glasses. They recalled heart-stopping moments in parties when errant, and drunk guests tipped over a favourite Schott Zwiesel glass. So what’s your trick, dear reader? How do you enjoy wine without breaking the bank, or for that matter, your wine glasses? Well, [...]
Wine in an age of Covid
The joke about the lockdown was, of course, how all our wine supplies depleted rapidly. Here in Bangalore, in between zoom calls, oenophiles shared photos and compared tasting notes about varietals from the new and old world wines of course, but also new regions like Israel and Slovenia. We have all been drinking very well...at home. I opened a 1997 Latour last week in honour of a friend who we hadn’t seen in a while. The other wines that I have enjoyed were a 2012 ‘Artemis’ Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon which was beautifully balanced with scents of fennel, berries, [...]
Tasting great Burgundy wines
The Burgundy Paradox and how to overcome it Question: How do you organize a Burgundy wine lunch as a collective? Answer: very carefully. Unless you are a collector or a distributor, organizing a wine tasting of great Burgundy is a difficult and expensive proposition. But The Wine Connoisseurs (TWC) of Bangalore decided to do just that a few weeks ago. We ended up with quite a lineup. So how can you replicate this? The first is to come up with a theme that works for the wine group. The theme in turn is dictated by the wines that are [...]
Desi Books podcast features Food & Faith
Thank you so much Jenny Bhatt for featuring Food & Faith in Episode 24 of your Desi Books podcast. Visit Episode 24, where Food & Faith is featured here Episode Description In today’s episode, in addition to a roundup of new and notable books, we have Shoba Narayan discussing her latest book, Food and Faith, in #DesiCraftChat. And Dr. Gayatri Sethi, who's a writer, educator, and co-founder of the #DesiKidLit community. shares some new and notable books in this new quarterly segment. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0r3KYUJxaKkbcp5qCUfQR9?si=4DgovRYjRdSsATBU6Tn7eg
What dreams are made of
Dreaming your way to reality A meditation on Jungian Psychology and the interpretation of dreams by Shoba Narayan Deccan Herald. March 14, 2021 Covid has been a time to take stock, introspect and wake up. In this essay, Shoba Narayan writes about returning to her old interest in Jungian psychology and what she learned from it. Even though therapy, both in-person and online has become acceptable and indeed, gained ground during the pandemic, most people think of it as navel gazing. “Where you lie on a couch and talk endlessly about your childhood,” said my [...]
Bird Podcast on Audubon’s List
is on Audubon's list of top podcasts If you like parrots and parakeets, this one is for you. Picked by Audubon Bird Podcast is picked by Audubon as one of the top birding podcasts in the world. Read about the full Audubon list here and below is what they say about us Bird Podcast with Shoba Narayan Every other week; about 60 minutes For an international perspective, try this India-based podcast. Host Shoba Narayan is a journalist and author with a wide variety of interests, and her podcast likewise tackles different [...]
How to bargain on Commercial Street
Bangalore Talkies: How to Bargain on Commercial Street Shoba Narayan relates how she finally rolled up her sleeves and decided to wade into that murky territory usually ruled by the ubiquitous Indian grandmother—bargaining The thought occurred as I eyed a stunning silver dinner set in a jewellery store on Commercial Street in Central Bangalore. Plates, tumblers, katoris, the works. The slight smile on the wizened shopkeeper’s face suggested that he was willing to bargain. But where to begin? Middle age brings many challenges: home, job, mortgage and the realization that you can actually learn [...]
Internship opportunity
Are you interested in nature? Are you interested in birds? Would you like to meet and work with amazing authors, naturalists, bird-watchers and the birding community? Are you interested in podcasts, telling stories and broadcast journalism in general? If so, this (unpaid) internship may be a good fit for you. My friend, Ulhas Anand and I do a Bird Podcast. So far, it has been sporadic but we would like to scale it up. For that, we need your help. If you are a journalism student who would like to work on this live project, please apply by writing [...]