The National Abu Dhabi
Comment Essays for The National Abu Dhabi
Hindustan Times Edit Page: Sex scandal in Hassan
In incidents of sexual assault and rape, India and indeed the world, has a tendency to blame the woman—the victim. “She must have been wearing something provocative to instigate him into rape,” is a common one.
India Today Travel Plus: Restaurant review
How does a fine-dining Indian restaurant differentiate itself? A review of Zarf at The Sheraton Grand Whitefield.
Hindustan Times: Beyond ayurvedic spas
Ultimately, it comes down to the smell of the towels, I said when a Bengaluru visitor asked why I had not given a spa guide to the city in this column. After all, I had written about everything else. This is odd because you see, I am that cliché. I am a spa junkie.
Temple food: for San Francisco Gate
This is my first piece for SF Gate which has some 136 million page views and some 30 million unique visitors each month. It is about the Livermore temple and its food.
Hindustan Times: On ageing
There is no single blueprint for ageing well. There are whacko schemes like tech entrepreneur Brian Johnson touting his “longevity mix” (also called Blueprint) as being second only to mother’s milk.
Hindustan Times: Is kaali-dal the McDonalds of North Indian food?
To me, the next bastion of North Indian food is to look to the light flavours of U.P vegetarian food
For India Currents: on dance
About a dance theater production based on my book, Food & Faith
Trying Henna in Jaipur: for Smithsonian Journeys:
This is an old story. But for some reason, it wasn't uploaded here. So here it is. This post is about the art of applying henna and how I learned how to do it in Jaipur.
WisdomCircle: Coping with Career Transitions
Career transitions happen by choice or compulsion: some that we seek and some that are forced upon us. The trick when you find yourself stumbling is to be prepared to pivot, to change. Most people know how to change in theory. But doing it is terrifyingly difficult.
Sommelier India: Tre Bicchieri and Italian wines
I am at the festival pavilion at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. It is a wet Thursday morning and wine lovers from all across the city are trooping for Tre Bicchieri, arguably the most important Italian wine event in the US.
How Cartier scented a San Francisco symphony: for Mint Lounge
The House of Cartier has created three scents that will perfume the San Francisco Symphony hall at three key points during the performance—but we are not certain how it will be achieved.
Hindustan Times Edit Page: Carnatic music
T.M. Krishna fancies himself as a revolutionary, but he is an inconsistent reactionary whose argument is “anti-whatever the norm is” rather than cogently thinking through the evolution of music.