Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Gita and management
Dharma is a very complicated Hindu concept. In this episode, I discuss this idea with Professor B.Mahadevan Professor B. Mahadevan has taught at the Indian Institute of Management for over 20 years. His research interests include supply chain management in electronic markets. He teaches an elective on how to apply lessons from the Bhagavad Gita into management. The course, he says, demonstrates how religious, spiritual and secular ideas coexist in Gita and how they can address some of the issues we face in the contemporary society in a wholesome manner. Today, Professor Mahadevan is with us to talk about a [...]
Reduce transactions
I am speaking at The Bangalore Club on November 20th. The title, which I suggested is "Returned to India: now what?" I am sorta freaking out because I want to make it funny. Debut stand-up act and all that. The below is stuff that I am thinking about as I prepare my material. Yikes. Oh, and I pay a compliment to my spouse, which I rarely do (in person or in print). Darn it. Not funny enough. Delegation in domestic matters frees up time for me to waste Shoba Narayan November 4, 2014 Updated: November 4, 2014 05:08 PM I [...]
Garlands as a national emblem: The National Abu Dhabi
I didn't set out to link flowers to culture, but there they are. A simple garland of flowers is a powerful cultural emblem. Dutch people stick tulips into vases. Brazilians arrange flowers on little pots that they hang all over white walls. Hawaiians make lei garlands out of flowers and wear them when they dance. Arabs dry flowers and powder them along with herbs for their bakhoor incense. Americans and Europeans arrange flowers elaborately in funky vases. And Indians string flowers so that they can hang that string across doorways or wear it braided into their hair. In one sense, [...]
Birds: A tryst with cacophony and camouflage
Bird watching fits this paradigm, because no matter where you travel, you will always find birds. If you educate yourself on birds, you can travel the world and remain engaged in your interest. When you get too old or feeble to travel, you can stand in your balcony and look through binoculars. As I have been doing. The freedom that birds seem to experience is uplifting and you wish you could lift yourself up.
Feasting and fasting
I am writing this as I face laddus, barfis, badam chocolates, and mixture. Oh, the irony. Denial is good in principle, but is it better than an extra cup of coffee? Shoba Narayan October 19, 2014 Updated: October 19, 2014 05:38 PM The festive season is in full swing in India. It is a time for celebration, family and pain. People obsess over feasting and fasting. The eternal question that accompanies most happy events, whether they are weddings, parties or holidays, continues to be asked: how to enjoy the array of goodies that tempt the palate at every corner without [...]
Suhas Mahesh
Suhas Mahesh talks about the pleasures of Sanskrit and physics. Thank you Suhas! When I contacted Suhas Mahesh, he wanted to talk about three things. 1. Can Sanskrit as a language be removed from its religious roots. Is that possible? 2. How do we rejuvenate indian culture using Sanskrit as a tool. 3. Science in Sanskrit. Suhas Mahesh is an undergraduate at the Indian Institute of Science. Though blissfully wedded to physics during day, he ekes out time to woo language at night. Despite his diplomatic insistence that he loves all languages equally, sources close to him reveal that he has [...]
Hotel Mercer, Barcelona
Now that the Barcelona piece is out, I thought I'd upload some photos. Writers are closet photographers.
For Eat Stay Love on Barcelona
Barcelona is the gateway to the rich Catalan culture and cuisine
Old age
What’s the best way to navigate your way through old age? Shoba Narayan October 15, 2014 Updated: October 15, 2014 06:31 PM My mind has recently been full of sobering thoughts about death, taxes and ageing and the question of how to age gracefully? The literature on ageing lists many activities that can help us as we get older. Exercise is an obvious one, as is developing a close and nurturing group of friends and family. There is one virtue, however, that is underplayed in many studies about ageing and that is cultivating a passion. This is difficult to do, [...]
The big brooming business: for Mint Lounge
The big brooming business An acquaintance of mine, Chantal, called from New York the other day with a request: she needed brooms; lots of them. Could I source them from India? Chantal is a gaunt French-Algerian chain smoker. She says merde (shit) a lot; wears Dior rouge lipstick, and lots of moody grey Chanel eyeshadow. She used to be a hand model but now specializes in department store windows. Her job, she says, is to make mannequins “look like models”.Over Skype, Chantal explained her idea. She would decorate an entire department store with brooms. She had watched Prime Minister Narendra [...]