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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
HumRaag
Chitra Srikrishna is a classical carnatic singer. She spent many years in the Bay area, which is why you haven't heard of her. She is a fantastic concert-level performer. Chitra and I collaborate on a show/performance called Hum Raag. The [...]
Procrastination
I have learnt how to procrastinate with furious efficiency Shoba Narayan October 7, 2014 Updated: October 7, 2014 05:40 PM It began innocently enough and took a fairly standard trajectory. Prodded by stray comments from the spouse, a sibling, a [...]