Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
College Bound
Thanks to all the advice-givers of this piece. University is a time for discovery, exploration ... and even purple hair Shoba Narayan August 4, 2014 Updated: August 4, 2014 04:20 PM ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow,” said Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet. In the next few weeks, hundreds of thousands of 18-year-olds from all over the world will make the long trek to join universities in America. They will be basketball players and artists; maths wizards and chess geeks; athletes and musicians. They will be both excited and terrified, for this is the beginning of a new phase of their [...]
Arranging everyday objects into art: for Mint Lounge
The other day, my husband came to the dining table and said, “Where are the serving spoons?” “In between the frangipani flowers, dearest,” I said. A bunch of children from the building ran in, exclaiming that they were ravenously hungry. Saturday night is Maggi night in my house and as a result, we become the most popular family in my building. Shelfies are all the rage in the virtual universe of photographs. These are artful arrangements of objects that people photograph and upload on photo-sharing sites like Instagram.
For The National Abu Dhabi on New Zealand
Auckland and beyond in a car with kids. And we learn about each other.
Kathak Maya Rao
Certain art forms are more connected with a country’s culture than others. To understand Russia, you have to know chess and ballet—the Mariinsky and Bolshoi styles, and names such as Vaslav Nijinsky, Svetlana Zakharova and, of course, Rudolf Nureyev. To appreciate England, you really need to know theatre—Shakespeare of course, but also West End. Fashion is a prism through which you can understand the French; rhythm the in-road into Africa. If you know and understand the tea ceremony and raku ceramics, you will understand the Japanese sensibility.
For The National Abu Dhabi on Barcelona
Ah Barcelona! If you are an architecture or design or sports buff, or a foodie, this is the city to go to. Travelling with kids: When shopping abroad is a holiday July 24, 2014 Updated: July 24, 2014 05:31 PM A few months ago, we were in Barcelona, which, as shopping destinations go, is not my favourite city. I prefer the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, the souqs of Dubai or the bazaars of India. Barcelona offers the pleasures of Zara, H&M and Mango, but not much atmosphere as far as I was concerned. My daughters, ages 18 and 12, were [...]
Indian Railways
To understand India, you need to have ridden on a train. One more plug for this fab book. Okay, so I have a piece in it, so not entirely a dispassionate observation. But cricket, Bollywood, food and trains are (so far) the things that are common to the "India experience." At least, so far as I can tell.
Clubs and dress code
It is a tough call to balance the gentility of wearing appropriate attire and tradition with moving with the times. I have been thrown out of country clubs in the US and in India for wearing wrong clothes--or rather for going with a man who was wearing wrong clothes. In particular, shorts. It's probably why I don't have a country club membership. India’s clubs should move with the times and embrace different traditions Shoba Narayan July 22, 2014 Updated: July 22, 2014 06:10 PM When Narendra Modi became India’s prime minister a new sense of national pride swept over the [...]
Living Will
This is a horrendously complicated topic. To get an idea, just imagine writing a living will yourself: when would you pull the plug on you? There needs to be a medical counselor to help with this sort of stuff. The will to die with dignity My father said something recently that freaked me out. He talked about icchha mrithyu, a phrase borrowed from the Hindu epic, Mahabharat, in which Bhishma has the ability to choose the moment of his death. My father is in the process of writing his will; and often, through stray phrases, he reveals to me that [...]
Day 4: July 18 2014
I am so mad. I woke up at 3 AM and surfed the Internet for two hours, looking at Hermes and Louis Vuitton bags. Fell asleep at 5 AM and woke up at 630 again. I could've meditated but I didn't. Instead the day has gone. I have just sat down from 330 to 345. I can feel myself slipping back to my old mode again. If it weren't for this damn log, I doubt that I would be meditating even. So what did I do today? I breathed in and out 45 times. My mind was swirling the entire [...]
Day 3: July 17 2014
From now on, updates will appear on the meditation page