The National Abu Dhabi
Comment Essays for The National Abu Dhabi
Pappadams: what are they and how to eat them: for Mint Lounge
I loved this week's issue of Mint Lounge. Sumant Jaikrishnan is an authentic Indian stylister (the male version of stylista). I loved the cover. Read it here. My piece is on Pappadams. Nice accompanying photo. Read it here and below. [...]
The Gita Sung
I heard this song first in NYC at my daughter's school, Abraham Lincoln, opposite Mayor Bloomberg's house. I explain it at the end of the song. [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/102699538" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
Femina
A piece that came out in Femina a while ago about Return to India. Did I post it before. I did a search on 'Femina' in this blog and couldn't find it. Here it is dear shoba how are you? [...]
Jimmy Choos sexy shoes for Mint Lounge
Today morning, the first thing I did was to go out, pick up all the newspapers and hide Mint Lounge. My parents are temporarily staying with me and I didn't want my father to read my column today mainly because [...]
NPR/ The Takeaway Show
Love NPR. Still listen to it. They called from Boston to interview me about this. As always, I won't listen to it (prefer to listen to something other than the sound of my own voice) but in case anyone wants [...]
New York Times: School Poisoning Deaths
As a columnist, I don't get the high of newsrooms very often. But this was one instance where it worked. My editor at the New York Times and I were wrapping up an essay that I had written for their mother load blog. It was about 9 PM last night and we had deemed the piece ready. Then she suddenly sends an email telling me about the Bihar midday meals scheme tragedy and asked if I could write a piece on it within an hour. I did, and then went to watch Scandal! Here it is below.
Solar Energy
An article inspired by the zero carbon house of my friend, the mathematician, Sujatha Ramadorai. The National Conversation How solar energy is shining new light on this country Shoba Narayan Jul 17, 2013 Sometimes the solution stares us in the [...]
What to eat at an airport for Mint Lounge
Airport tales as different as night and day Airports are happy places at 8am on a Monday morning. The lines are short. People are civilized Shoba Narayan First Published: Sat, Jul 13 2013. 12 18 AM IST A sparrow [...]
Fibs and love
If I had read this, I would have called it a 'cute' piece and that really is what I was attempting. Inspired by the Huff Post divorce columnist's list of what makes a successful marriage. The National Conversation The little [...]
Freaking out with Instagram
Thank you iPhone 4S. What would I do without you?
Kerala Men
As a nominal Keralite, I feel that I can comment on Kerala with impunity. This piece was written after a visit to Trivandrum. I was attempting humour but someone from Kerala told me that I just came off as insulting. [...]
Why women don’t work? for The National Abu Dhabi
Thanks to this forum for discussing feminism. Specific thanks to Naina, Vinay, RG, NS-- and even though others have a view on him-- Krishna. This appeared in The National, Abu Dhabi. Caught between traditional values and modern ways Shoba Narayan [...]




