Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Pappadams: what are they and how to eat them: for Mint Lounge
I loved this week's issue of Mint Lounge. Sumant Jaikrishnan is an authentic Indian stylister (the male version of stylista). I loved the cover. Read it here. My piece is on Pappadams. Nice accompanying photo. Read it here and below. Sat, Jul 27 2013. 12 07 AM IST Pondering over ‘poppadoms’ Poppadoms are more fluff than substance. They are glorious, ephemeral and gone in minutes Papad or as south Indians call it, poppadom, is a popular part of Indian meals across regions. Photo: Manoj Madhavan/Mint The essential dishes of a Kerala sadya (feast) are paruppu (dal/lentils), pachadi (raita), and payasam [...]
The Gita Sung
I heard this song first in NYC at my daughter's school, Abraham Lincoln, opposite Mayor Bloomberg's house. I explain it at the end of the song. [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/102699538" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
Femina
A piece that came out in Femina a while ago about Return to India. Did I post it before. I did a search on 'Femina' in this blog and couldn't find it. Here it is dear shoba how are you? here we are getting on as usual. first let us congratulate you shoba for the article that has been written by you and published in FEMINA. have you been given a copy? the library man gave the issue only now and hence we are attaching it for you and the other family members to see in case nobody has seen [...]
Jimmy Choos sexy shoes for Mint Lounge
Today morning, the first thing I did was to go out, pick up all the newspapers and hide Mint Lounge. My parents are temporarily staying with me and I didn't want my father to read my column today mainly because of the use of the swear word-- "Fuck me shoes." I lead many lives-- some for my readers and some as the good daughter/daughter in law. Sometimes these worlds collide much to my dismay. So the Lounge is hidden. Problem is that my Dad has just gone to my brother's house and I am sweating bricks and hoping that he [...]
NPR/ The Takeaway Show
Love NPR. Still listen to it. They called from Boston to interview me about this. As always, I won't listen to it (prefer to listen to something other than the sound of my own voice) but in case anyone wants to, here is the link. Also embedded below.
New York Times: School Poisoning Deaths
As a columnist, I don't get the high of newsrooms very often. But this was one instance where it worked. My editor at the New York Times and I were wrapping up an essay that I had written for their mother load blog. It was about 9 PM last night and we had deemed the piece ready. Then she suddenly sends an email telling me about the Bihar midday meals scheme tragedy and asked if I could write a piece on it within an hour. I did, and then went to watch Scandal! Here it is below.
Solar Energy
An article inspired by the zero carbon house of my friend, the mathematician, Sujatha Ramadorai. The National Conversation How solar energy is shining new light on this country Shoba Narayan Jul 17, 2013 Sometimes the solution stares us in the face, to the point where we have to wear sunglasses. I speak about solar power, of course, and the recent news that Dubai International Airport's Terminal D is going to use solar power to meet part of its energy requirements. Abu Dhabi too has ambitious plans to continue its policy of installing solar panels in the desert to harness the [...]
What to eat at an airport for Mint Lounge
Airport tales as different as night and day Airports are happy places at 8am on a Monday morning. The lines are short. People are civilized Shoba Narayan First Published: Sat, Jul 13 2013. 12 18 AM IST A sparrow is eating a masala dosa in Bangalore airport. It doesn’t even bother to lift up the remains of the dish and fly off like a furtive crow stealing a vada. Rather, it hops on the white melamine thali-plate that is neatly divided into sambhar, red chutney and white chutney; and picks on the turmeric-yellow potato filling. I half-expect it to [...]
Fibs and love
If I had read this, I would have called it a 'cute' piece and that really is what I was attempting. Inspired by the Huff Post divorce columnist's list of what makes a successful marriage. The National Conversation The little fibs we often tell to those we love the most Shoba Narayan Jul 10, 2013 Recently, I read in an article that it is OK for spouses to have secrets from each other. This pleased me because my husband and I keep secrets from each other even though we consistently pretend that we don't. It didn't start out this way. [...]
Freaking out with Instagram
Thank you iPhone 4S. What would I do without you?