The National2020-06-17T19:48:20+05:30

THE NATIONAL, ABU DHABI COLUMNS ON RELATIONSHIPS, FINANCE, POLITICS, GENDER, FASHION AND POLITICS 358 posts
205, 2022

Food and Faith in Four Ingredients: Rakesh Raghunathan and I at the BIC

May 2nd, 2022|Books, Events, Food and Faith|

May 4, 2022. From 6:30 to 8 PM. Rakesh Raghunathan and I do a jugalbandhi at the Bangalore International Centre. Come watch us talk about sacred food. We will tell stories, Rakesh will sing songs, and do a cooking demonstration of one of my favourite dishes. I will of course talk about "Food and Faith." Free and open to the public. This is an in-person event.

105, 2022

Artistes are learning to pivot during pandemic

May 1st, 2022|Arts | Culture, Comment Essays, Events|

I have a problem with consuming culture virtually. I especially dislike how technology has converted live performances into flat-screen replicas. All mediums change the form. Technology for the most part diminishes the performing arts. Here is my column for HT about the performing arts. Linked to some upcoming events.

105, 2022

The Dr. Maya Rao Kathak and Choreography Conference 2022

May 1st, 2022|Arts | Culture, Events|

Welcome to the The Dr. Maya Rao Kathak and Choreography Conference 2022 Tuesday, May 3, 2022. From 3 to 8 PM. At the Bangalore International Centre Dances, performances, lec-dems, converstations, panels About dance and how it can rejuvenate [...]

2304, 2022

Review of the French Milk Lady in Le Soir

April 23rd, 2022|Books, The Milk Lady of Bangalore|

Les brèves des Livres du Soir A découvrir également. Shoba Narayan. - D.R. Par P.My et Da.Cv. Mis en ligne le 15/02/2020 à 15:00 La laitière de Bangalore ** Shoba Narayan De retour en Inde après vingt ans aux Etats-Unis, la [...]

2304, 2022

French review of La Laitiere de Bangalore

April 23rd, 2022|Books, The Milk Lady of Bangalore|

Une vache dans l'ascenseur   Par Jean-Claude Perrier, le 31.01.2020ROMAN/INDE 27 FÉVRIER SHOBA NARAYAN Shoba Narayan - Photo DR/MERCURE DE FRANCE Grâce à l'animal totem de l'Inde, Shoba Narayan raconte son retour au pays natal et sa vie farfelue. Cette aventure commence un [...]

2204, 2022

Interview with the translator of Milk Lady

April 22nd, 2022|Books, The Milk Lady of Bangalore|

Listen to the interview here 2020 |La Nuit de l’Inde - Entretien 2/3 avec Karthika Naïr, auteure et poétesse, qui publie "Le Tigre de miel" et Johanna Blayac traductrice de "La laitière de Bangalore" de Shoba Narayan.

2104, 2022

French review of La Laitiere de Bangalore

April 21st, 2022|Books, The Milk Lady of Bangalore|

2 livres coups de coeur pour une échappée indienne A VOIR Styles A LIRE ! Par Delphine Peras, publié le 12/03/2020 à 10:32 , mis à jour le 26/04/2020 à 10:58 "La Laitière de Bangalore", par Shoba Narayan Malgré l'annulation du Salon du Livre [...]

1504, 2022

Has fine wine reached a tipping point?

April 15th, 2022|Comment Essays, , |

How can fine wine stay relevant? In this age of climate change, are wine drinkers going to be looking at other parameters when they buy wines– sustainability for instance. Unlike dark chocolate, which grew from its niche obscurity to its current keto-diet popularity, wine is taking the opposite route. Fine wine—the term is used so often and in so many situations that it has almost become meaningless—has now reached the tipping point in terms of affordability, access and most importantly, status.

1104, 2022

What to eat if you go half-way vegan?

April 11th, 2022|Arts | Culture, Comment Essays, Food | Drink|

It is depressing. Here I remain, perched on the higher end of the weighing scale, basically hating myself for over-eating, over-boozing and falling off my exercise routine.  How to detox now? How now to stop the steady upward march of my Body Mass Index? How to stem the not-so-steady ballooning out of various body parts?  The answer, I say, is tambli. Tambli is a cross between a chutney, raita and a lassi.  It is served in coastal Karnataka-- Mangalore and upwards, usually before the rasam course.  Which brings us to the key question for this column: is there any other culture that is as obsessed with the yogurt-coconut combo as we South Indians are? 

2503, 2022

Bangalore’s trendy restaurants: don’t believe Zomato

March 25th, 2022|Arts | Culture, Comment Essays, Food | Drink|

Let’s face it. A lot of what is considered best is subjective. Even if you go through crowd-polled websites, it is hit or miss. So what’s the takeaway? Mine is not to trust Zomato ratings because while they are crowd-polled, they aren’t customized, as in geared to your taste. My technique is to ask trusted friends and then account for their biases. When a Kashmiri friend says the food is too spicy, I automatically think it is probably perfect for spice-loving me. So what’s new, what’s hip in Bangalore? Read on.

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