Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Food & Faith excerpted in Condenast Traveller
‘Hinduism, like many great religions, is about feasting and fasting, praying and eating prasadam’ Shoba Narayan's new book delves into the many ways food and belief are intertwined with our identities Shoba Narayan PUBLISHED: NOV 21, 2020 | 17:28:35 IST A preiest cooks prasad at a temple. Photo: Frank Bienewald / Alamy Stock Photo “In no other culture does faith play out in as colourful and traditional a fashion as in India. In our country’s places of worship, we find rich myths, ancient traditions, cultural touchstones and delicious food that are offered to the Gods and [...]
Food and Faith flies out to the world
Shoba Narayan approaches faith through perhaps its most primal and nourishing aspect: food. She partakes of sacred food in shrines across India and writes about the intimate yet powerful connection between food and faith.
Are wine terms pretentious?
Are wine terms pretentious? My column for Sommelier India Palate is a term that sounds pompous but really isn’t. In fact, it is the simplest way by which you can decide what wines you like. Some of it is practical or logical and some of it is just you. Being vegetarian, my taste veers towards aromatic, dry and off-dry, cool-climate wines. Low alcohol content (under 12%) is nice to have but not always possible, particularly in New World wines. After trying out several, these are my current picks. [...]
Karma yoga and the need to negotiate
Karma yoga and the need to negotiate 5 min read . Updated: 16 Jul 2009, 09:20 PM IST The Good Life | Shoba Narayan Karma yoga and the need to negotiate What’s the best negotiating strategy you can use in a job? Ability, credibility and the willingness to walk away. Not my words. Strategic HR adviser Hema Ravichandar’s. Last Sunday, I called Ravichandar, who cut her teeth as HR head at Infosys Technologies, to get tips on negotiation. During our interview, I observed that E. Sreedharan, whom I admire unabashedly, must be a master negotiator. He reads the Gita for 45 [...]
Talk on Indian Jewellery Traditions
Where I participated in a panel on jewellery traditions from some of its best known experts. Event website here.
Twenty ways to do offbeat luxury
Twenty ways to do offbeat luxury in 2010: for Mint Lounge 4 min read . Updated: 02 Jan 2010, 02:33 PM IST The Good Life | Shoba Narayan Twenty ways to do offbeat luxury in 2010 Happy New Year everyone! The recession is over, according to no less a source than the top White House economic adviser Larry Summers. Resoundingly over, report trade pundits in India. As we pick ourselves up from the debris of the last decade, it is hard not to feel optimistic about this one. It’s time—about time—for some cheer and celebration. Time to live and love; celebrate [...]
Bangalore’s underrated restaurants
Bangalore’s most underrated restaurants 4 min read . Updated: 22 Jul 2010, 07:57 PM IST Shoba Narayan | The Good Life Bangalore’s most underrated restaurants Some weeks ago, I was at a food and wine tasting, put together by Food Lovers, a Bangalore-based magazine with a self-explanatory name. I read the magazine for its restaurant reviews and foodie news. Occasionally, the magazine invites me to be part of its free tasting panels. A group of us sample food and wine and offer written opinions. Like foodies everywhere, we talk in obsessive and excruciating detail about things that might make a technocrat’s eyes [...]
Why naturalists are happier people
Being surrounded by trees, rivers and animals can add years to your life; and life to your years Welcome to my office," says Arpita Dutta. As lines go, this one is not particularly original. Except that we are sitting in an open-topped Jeep at the entrance to the Chitwan National Park, in Nepal, which, as it happens, is Dutta’s office: the place she visits every day. Dutta, 33, is an amazing woman. Born and raised in West Bengal, she has worked in forests all her life. She has done research on the Sundarbans and currently works at Taj Safaris’ newly [...]
Do your parents embarrass you?
When your mamma rocks the floor Have you ever been embarrassed by your parents? I confess that I have. The time when I was 18, for instance, and my father came searching for me at Mardi Gras (IIT Madras’ annual cultural festival). There I was, acting cool around those IIT guys. When my Dad showed up to take me back home, the smoky independence that I affected came crashing down. Now, of course, my kids are embarrassed by me. The last time this happened was this past New Year’s Eve. We were three generations—my brother’s family, mine, and my [...]
Weaving a revolution
I did something recently that gave me more satisfaction than a vacation. At the Sampoorn Handicrafts fair held at Chitrakala Parishad in Bangalore—similar to Dilli Haat and Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda festival—I spotted a beautiful khadi salwar kameez swaying in the wind. It was off-white, simple and beautifully cut. I had to have it. Unfortunately, they didn’t have it in my size. “All these are cut to Italian sizes, madam," said the volunteer manning the stall. “Why don’t you go next door and buy the fabric?" This was how I discovered Malkha cotton, which brands itself as the “freedom fabric". At [...]