Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Evolution of music 2
All music originated in the sacred, no matter what religion. Listen to Gregorian or Mozarabic chants with your eyes closed and they will remind you of the feeling you get in the early morning hours at a temple in Haridwar. Listen to Baroque Jewish music from a Portuguese synagogue, available on Youtube, and it will take you back to a church in Goa. Listen to Islamic Anasheeds or Sufi music and you will not just feel the pull of a mosque but also that of a Buddhist monastery.
About Satya Nadella: Suddenly, all Indians seem to know Microsoft’s new CEO
Wrote this right after Nadella became CEO. It was published yesterday Suddenly, all Indians seem to know Microsoft’s new CEO Shoba Narayan March 11, 2014 Updated: March 11, 2014 19:33:00 Now that India-born Satya Nadella is the new CEO of Microsoft, the number of Indians who know him, are related to him, have studied with him in school, college or kindergarten or claim kinship in some loose form has skyrocketed. “He must belong to the Nathella Sampath Chetty jeweller group in Chennai,” said my father, who began his teaching career in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, the state where Nadella is from. [...]
The real reason Wendy Doniger’s book on Hindus was banned in India. For Quartz
My friend, Mitra moved from the WSJ to Quartz, a digital initiative of The Atlantic Monthly. Their daily briefs are followed by the top brass in Twitter, and policy institutes. The production and layout quality is excellent (like Medium). Best of all, from a writer's perspective-- you turn in a piece today, and if it is news-worthy, it is "pubbed" or published tomorrow. They have a nice photo too that accompanies the story. My oped on the banned book. HOLY COW The real reason Wendy Doniger’s book on Hindus was banned in India: It’s not boring enough Shoba Narayan March [...]
Evolution of Music
Chennai, the city I grew up in and still call home is in the throes of a creative ferment, at least with respect to Carnatic music. This has caused some apoplexy and bile among many keen ‘rasikas’ or lovers of music, who live in homes where even the pillars sing, as an ancient Tamil poem said about the author of the Tamil Ramayan, poet Kamban’s home. These are homes in the bylanes of T. Nagar and Mylapore where the home-ground Narasu’s coffee (my father drinks it) is piping hot and frothy.
For The National Abu Dhabi on Japan
I just got slammed for generalizing but here I go again. This was written before the feedback though. As an amateur cultural anthropologist, I find the differences and similarities between cultures fascinating. Japan is one of my favorites.
Thanks but no thanks
Most old cultures: Israelis, Russians, Chinese, and certainly Indians are this way. Don't know enough about Europe's old cultures to check if they are this way too. When I say West, I mean America. Would be interesting to check if a Polish or old German grandmother says thanks-- or not. How did the word 'thank you' evolve? No need to say thank you, we’ll just even things up later Notebook Shoba Narayan My mother dislikes it when I thank her. She is a youthful 76-year-old woman with grey hair and an easy smile. She makes friends easily. She likes to [...]
Music– classical and film.
I am very excited about this program. My friend, Chitra and I are doing this together. I met Chitra because of my columns in Mint. She was a reader who became a friend. She is an amazing singer. So we came up with this idea and pitched it to Bangalore International Center. They accepted it; and here we are, at home, rehearsing. Chitra lived in California for many years before returning to India. She is a lovely person. We are having a great time rehearsing this. Please come if you are in Bangalore on March 14th. It will be well [...]
The Indian mind and the lunar calendar: for Mint Lounge
Calendars (Chinese, Lunar, Gregorian) are fascinating in how they tell time. I am reading about this, and hence wrote this piece. HOME» LEISURE» THE GOOD LIFE The Indian mind and the lunar calendar Familiarizing yourself with the Indian lunar calendar is one of the ways by which one can access India’s heritage and mindset E-mailPrint Shoba Narayan This is the winter season in the Indian calendar. We call it Shishir Ritu (mid-January to mid-March) or leaf-letting season in Tamil. Fat, golden, tired leaves are tumbling from the trees, creating miniature typhoons. Temperatures rise and fall. In Indian towns, people sit [...]
My books on iTunes
I am absolutely thrilled to report that my books are now on the iBookstore and iTunes. They are here And they are gorgeous when viewed through the Apple magic. The Hinduism book is the beginning of a new project. The Cow book looks so much better in the iTunes version. I have slaved over it for days and days. Please consider buying them. Please spread the word if you feel like it. It is about the cost of two lattes (need to come up with better marketing-line. This is lame). It is better than downloading yet another version of Angry [...]
Radio New Zealand
From one end of the world to another. Did my usual interview with the genial Bryan Crump for Radio NZ. Listen to my interviews here.