Those who know me know that I am fond of Indian classical music, it's a music that I work on, walk to or just play it when mood strikes. And perhaps, it was just a question of time that this would have led me to Western classical, and it has finally happened over last few... Continue Reading →
We, the People of India
A couple of days ago, India celebrated its Constitution Day - the day when the Indian Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly, paving the way for the country to become a Republic and hold its first general elections. Gaining independence relatively late compared to many other democratic nations, India had the advantage of studying... Continue Reading →
My Sari Story
I come from family where sari was worn every day, my mother and masi were teachers in the University and I stayed in the campus where everyone wore saris to work. Even the school teachers those days wore saris everyday. Salwar-kurta was not the dressing norm till much later in my lifetime. Every year change... Continue Reading →
To read or to watch?
For last 3 nights I have been glued to Star Movies Select channel at it’s 9pm show with some great movies on air with technical, critical and/or popular acclaim. The first one was The King’s Speech made in 2010 and was recommended by a friend. The film is about the stammer problem faced by King… Continue Reading →
Story of India
I have read all of Amish Tripathi's books and have heard him speak couple of times. So when he announced the release of his new non-fiction book Immortal India, I was very excited as I am fascinated by Indology. But I have figured that I am a tsunduko, my to-be-read list is always longer than... Continue Reading →
Origin by Dan Brown
The latest by Dan Brown in his Robert Langdon series Origin has been long time in coming from the time the publishers announced the pre-booking in January. This book like all others in the series follow the similar pattern – Robert Langdon finds himself in a tight place being almost accused of a murder and… Continue Reading →
Train travel is no longer fun
India is a land of billion people - and this is experienced best at airports, railway airports and metro stations as well as bus stops. Couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to travel by Indian Railways for work - it had been a while since I travelled by trains. And while I spent... Continue Reading →
A simple but delicious way to celebrate Birthdays
All households have their set traditions - either flowing through generations of forefathers or created because of modern family demands. And like most of them, we also have set traditions in our house for different festivals and most of them revolve around the food. One of the very basic and most frequently exhibited tradition is... Continue Reading →
A sojourn on the Ganges
It was a quick short getaway for a much needed break to The Glasshouse on the Ganges - a Neemrana property. Nestled in couple of acres, it is situated right on the banks of gushing river Ganges. It is a comparatively modern property amongst the Neemrana stable and the huge glass windows bring in the... Continue Reading →
Dear Judiciary – Thank You
In last one week Twitter has lauded two major judgements by Supreme Court of India and one by High Court and thereby redeeming judicial independence from polity. In the 70th year of Independence, the abolition of Triple-Talaq, reaffirming Right to Privacy of individuals - while are good decisions, one does wonder why it took so... Continue Reading →
Of Reading
I am a firm believer of Francis Bacon's analysis on Studies : "Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly." I read almost everything under the sky - fiction, non-fiction, I have dipped my feet in Indology, I have dabbled with biographies and autobiographies as well... Continue Reading →
The cacophony of Indian bazaars
Before the air-conditioned malls there were markets, and before these sanitised ubiquitous Galleria/ Defence Colony/ Khan Markets of Indian cities there were traditional Indian bazaars. Some of these bazaars were static in a smaller locality like Vishwanath Gali in Varanasi or Indira Market of Noida and some were moving bazaars called haats which travelled to... Continue Reading →