I remember two books from my childhood very distinctly, both unusual for a child barely learning the mechanics of reading. One was my Mother’s college biology book with exquisite transparencies of the insides of frogs. The other was a glossy book with photographs, specifications, technical schematics and the history of Japanese war planes from the […]
Quirky facts become anecdote and eventually settle into legend. Among Indians of a certain age-group, such is the status of tour groups of middle-aged Indian couples, and families, that go on European holidays with the express comfort of knowing their tour-provider will arrange for familiar Indian food, and in some cases strictly prepared Indian food […]
Some of us pride ourselves on our flexibility; Not of the yogic contortionist variety, but of the human kind. Flexibility of beliefs, habits and character is in some ways the filtered evolution of what most human beings are: set in their ways, narrow-minded, and completely self-centred. Flexibility makes for people who are more open to […]
I haven’t written a Hindi movie review since Band Baaja Baaraat, not because there have been no films worth writing about, but because none have seemed to need the extra attention, or have required that I share my point of view on them beyond a recommendation. Like the previous film by the same team, however, […]
We all made paper boats when we were kids. If you lived through even a single monsoon in India, it would seem unnatural not to, and they were a lot of fun to make too. My Grandmother’s place in Bombay used to be an old muddy compound back then, and when it rained a small […]
I don’t remember the first time I heard the name Sherlock Holmes. There has to have been a first time. Maybe someone mentioned it, or perhaps I picked it up in a movie or a comic book. The details of our first encounter remain shrouded in the mists of my early childhood memory. But, however […]
Our trip to India was to last a little over three weeks. Our last two weekends had been fruitful, starting with our visit to Mahim Nature Park. The third weekend was ear-marked for further travelling, but this time it was away from the city, to Bangalore. The weekend sojourn to Bengaluru, as it is now […]