Self Control
I have been using this great app called "Self Control." It lets you put sites that distract on a "black list." So every morning, after I check my Facebook for ten minutes, I turn on Self Control for 24 hours. [...]
Women– conformists and rebels: for Mint Lounge
It gave me a lot of pleasure to write this piece. I think my mother in law is fascinating. She stayed with me for six months recently and it was a learning experience. She, like many of her generation, inhabits [...]
Confident Women: don’t listen to dissenting voices, carry on: for The National Abu Dhabi
A piece that really *really* bothered me and a response. Opinion Comment Don’t listen to the dissenting voices, just carry on regardless Shoba Narayan October 8, 2013 Updated: October 8, 2013 18:08:00 Recently, the New York Times magazine carried an [...]
Characters
Children remember the oddest things. If you have kids around you; kids that visit you from time to time, you might want to consider the kind of person you are and personify. This one is written with Prabha-mami and Nagarajan-mama [...]
Overlearning
Came upon this concept in an interesting way. Thank you, Ms. Anjana (kathak teacher) for the idea. Practice makes perfect in classical Indian dance classes Shoba Narayan October 1, 2013 Updated: October 1, 2013 17:27:00 Save this article Alaa Ahmed [...]
Regional aesthetics
I am wrestling with the whole notion of culture, identity, tradition, aesthetics, and how to infuse them into my life. How to embody these things? By wearing a sari? After years of being an atheist and then becoming a agnostic, [...]
Bangalore Literature Festival
Is this weekend. Please attend if you are in Bangalore. I am in a panel on Sunday afternoon (the 29th) from 1 to 2 pm. It is about rewriting the rules of romance and reminiscence. In bold below. But the [...]
In support of arguing
My friend said something about fighting couples ages ago that served as the seed for this article. We were talking about elderly couples who balk at doing stuff for each other-- particularly women. Caring for husbands during illness, that sort [...]
Why you may not be as cultured as you think: for Mint Lounge
Nice response to the piece below in Livemint website. I wish The Skeptarian, whoever she or he is had said some more. I don't agree with her or his notions about culture as talking to sweeper. That's my milklady version. [...]
Vintage cars
Have to write another article on inheriting collections. Don't think I gave a satisfactory answer to this very interesting question: are you doing your kids a favor by passing on your collection to them? Driven by a passion for possession [...]
Smartphone addiction
The seed of this piece came from Nilesh, a friend in Bombay, who posted a photo of Sony's phone-camera clip on his FB timeline. It looked cool. I started digging. I love my iPhone, perhaps more than I should. I [...]