Poem: in these eyes lie ancient secrets: in The Madras Courier
in these ears lie ancient secrets (a riff on the film Roja) she tickles my ear with a golden brush i wake from my nap with a primal sound shakes like a jhimiki upside down thinks she’s [...]
Poem: Crows and ancestors: in Indian Literature
Crows and ancestors A crow, dead? Hung from an Indian elm tree, splayed like black shorts on a fickle clothesline, except this was a glass-coatedmanjha kite-string used to cut off of the competition during the annual kite-flying Uttarayan [...]
Poem :The price of tomatoes: in Indian Literature
The price of tomatoes the other day, Ma told me that she regretted not climbing Mt. Kailash seven decades ago then she asked for the price of tomatoes piled high on our dining table. when I told her that [...]
WisdomCircle: Mental Models
No matter what the field, there are three things that all of us need for success. The first and the foundational factor is content, by which I mean talent, knowledge, expertise, rigour, all of these that each of us have learned and cultivated since childhood in our chosen field. The second is attitude, which is the set of character traits that each of us have, either through genetics, through how we were parented, or because of the circumstances of our particular life. The third factor is projection, which has become increasingly important in this digital age. It refers to how comfortable we are with being well-known, either in our chosen field or adjacent ones.
Hindustan Times: Inclusion
How did the MacArthur Foundation with an annual budget of about $160 million, a staff of around 250 people and a jury of about a dozen become so spectacularly inclusive not just in terms of gender parity but also in every other domain? The answer is both obvious and very hard to achieve: by acknowledging their bias, and actively seeking to overcome it.
Hindustan Times: Show your love
An uncle passed away. At his funeral and subsequent days, I witnessed an outpouring of love and from his family, relatives, people he mentored and neighbours. All of which led me to wonder about the age-old question: what will your obituary say? What will people say about you after you are gone? What will they speak about at your memorial service? Which is another way of asking: who are you and what do you project to the world?
Hindustan Times: Secret Bangalore
To write this, I asked a few old and new Bangaloreans for suggestions of where to go and what to do. Here below is a list of “Secret Bangalore” suggestions, in honour of India’s 75th Republic Day. They include chaats to masalas to juices. Thank you Sowmya Nandan, Naresh Narasimhan, Vishal Nagpal and Jay Bhow.
Hindustan Times: Self-care
How to help your diabetes. How to help with your body pains. How to figure out your posture and gait. I talk to three Bangalore experts on these topics. Small things you can do.
WisdomCircle: New Year Resolutions
We all need to change, adapt, and evolve in order to survive and thrive. I have been thinking a lot about this particularly in the context of New Year resolutions. Here then are 10 suggestions.
Hindustan Times: Buying happiness
This column got me thinking about happiness and whether it was possible to access it for cheap – specifically for under Rs.100. So here are some things that I have tried.
Hindustan Times: Best Pizza in Bangalore
The best pizza I have eaten in Bangalore is at my friend, Jay Bhow’s house. So when Jay, a VPN certified pizzaiolo, wondered if Bangalore was the artisanal pizza capital of India, we decided to go on a pizza crawl to find out.
WisdomCircle: Upskilling
Most couples retire without thinking about the fact that they may well be single soon either due to death or (these days) divorce. While death of a partner is an eventuality that most married couples face, “gray divorce” is becoming more prevalent these days, even in India.