Culture and Globalization
The Question of our Time. How can we stay rooted in our own culture in a globalised world? In a globalised world, it's hard to define our respective culture by what we eat or how we dress up. Mike Young [...]
Heritage Buildings
Thank you, Deepa Krishnan of Mumbai Magic for pointing me to a great PDF describing heritage conservation in Bombay Lessons from the Balabrooie brouhaha On heritage conservation in India Shoba Narayan Heritage views No.1: preserve or modernize? A smart [...]
Spirits of India
Korea has soju; Japan has sake; America has bourbon; Mexico has tequila and mezcal; Germany has schnapps; Scandinavia has aquavit; France has wine; Greece has ouzo; Britain has beer; Portugal has port; Spain has sherry; Turkey has raki; Brazil has cachaça; Peru has pisco; Scotland has Scotch; and India has…what? Chai? Horlicks? At a time when national spirit is high, shouldn’t we consider a signature spirit as well?
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 [...]