Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Paris and Luxury
Should brands take a stand is the question I try to analyze in this piece. Normally, no. But now? Thanks to Elisabeth Cadoche-Guez for setting me up with luxury brand executives in Paris. Elisabeth is the author of a wonderful book on Arthur Rimbaud. 27 November 2015 | E-Paper Home » Leisure » The Good Life Last Modified: Thu, Nov 26 2015. 05 07 PM IS Luxury in the time of great tragedy France’s great luxury brands haven’t done much in this time of tragedy, and they ought to repair that Shoba Narayan Imagine if you were the head of [...]
Poetry Feedback
Funny how poetry evinces so much passion. Did not realize. Hi Shoba, As a poetry junkie, loved your last column. Would love to meet your father some day. Like your father, I too "had to memorise" Abou Ben Adhem as a schoolboy! By the way, if I am not mistaken, the correct verse is "An angel writing in a book of gold" - and not "an angel writing in leaves of gold". Here's the link to a piece on Abou Ben Adhem and, incredibly, an obscure topic in the biological sciences. It is by, who else, a South Indian Brahmin [...]
Poetry…India…Verse… Performance Poetry Festival. How to appreciate poetry?
The mysterious ways of poetic inspiration Why do we like poetry? And how do they get into our lives? Shoba Narayan T.S. Eliot. Photo: John Gay/Getty Images “Why do you like poetry so much?” I asked my father again this morning. He sighed. “Because we had to memorize poems like “Abou Ben Adhem, may his tribe increase,’”he replied. It is a tangential answer; one that attempts to pry loose and give word to something tenuous, precious. My father begins reciting the poem to deflect my tiresome questions. His voice is soft, and thanks to newly acquired dentures, a bit slurred. [...]
How to talk to elders: game their wisdom and learn from it
What is your strategy when you meet elders; those uncles you encounter at weddings? You sit with them, chat desultorily about their prostate, how hot Mumbai has become, and maybe reminisce about the ancestral home or village. The conversation ends abruptly after 5 minutes; and then both parties, with relief, turn to their devices.
Krishna, Rabdi and ladoos in Jaipur: Sacred Food: Mint on Sunday
Jaipur is a magical city. The colors, the food, the peacock calls.... latest installment of my food series here in Mint on Sunday Don't miss the "bombaat" video of the women singing.
Thank you Domain-B
For the plug here
The outrage over Manchurian ‘idli’: for Mint Lounge
The outrage over Manchurian ‘idli’ There are a hundred wonderful variations of this ancient, flawless dish. Why spoil it? It was on board a Vistara Airlines flight that I first tasted the ghastly concoction called idli manchurian. It was my first time on the airline. I was happy. The distinct airline smell was absent. You know the one I mean? The explosive combination of closed lavatories, chemical air freshener, deodorant, all overlaid by the scent of hot food stuffed into trolleys and crammed into a small space—like a gassy burp waiting to happen. Then the food came. I should [...]
How to give (or how to clear out your closet)
This then is the long view of life. I view interactions as transactions. My parents view interactions as relationships. Post office personnel get invited home for festivals; and the man at the transport office gets new nightwear because he complained that his joints were aching in Bengaluru’s cold weather. As for me, I have a lot of spare room in my storage closet these days.
We are on the Delhi Metro
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