Gulabo Sitabo: A tale for fragile egos
Na jaane kya man mein aayi upar wale neBanwayi har ek choohe ki billi ek So go the lyrics of Gulabo Sitabo, Shoojit Sircar’s new directorial venture which released on Amazon Prime on June 12 2020. The…
My Saree Stories: Part 14
Time to talk about some more spectacular weaves of India in this edition of my saree stories. Read about the glorious heritage of the Patola saree, the Ponduru khadi, the Aayiram butta saree, the Jawariya daana saree,…
They don’t read statistics
Somewhere during the beginning of this pandemic I heard two streams of arguments at the workplace. The first was skeptics telling me that the fatality rate was less than 1% and people were overreacting. The other was…
Khichdi-chokha: Bihar’s comfort food
There is this thing about Bihari homes and Shanichar ki khichdi. if you don’t make masoor dal ki khichdi on a Saturday, you will encounter fierce arguments and glum faces! I have blogged about the reasons and…
Unwitting Peeping Toms
The world of live webcams is getting difficult to adapt to. I am conducting a webinar. For some reason the organizers think that a Saturday afternoon is the best time to conduct one. I give in. I…
Pataal Lok: Despair and disparity
His parents have given him the unfortunate moniker — Hathi Ram, which means an elephant. Jaideep Ahlawat, who plays Hathi Ram Chaudhary, a middle-aged cop with the Delhi Police, does remind you of an elephant. He is…
Seeking acceptance outside
I’m listening to an interview by eminent Pakistani educationist, Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra. Her Urdu is lilting and I am not able to decipher some difficult words that she uses. But I get the gist of her…
Names and addresses
In the Mira Nair film, The Namesake, there is a scene where Gogol Ganguly, a second generation immigrant to the United States of America, brings his American girlfriend to meet his Bengali parents. She tries to do…
Watermelon Rind Recipes
Summers are here and watermelons are being consumed in plenty. While we chomp down huge quantities of the red centre, I just thought I could make use of the white part of the watermelon, the rind. The…
The Apu Trilogy: Satyajit Ray’s labour of love
There is a distinct disadvantage of seeing works of art very early in life. I saw Satyajit Ray’s black and white films somewhere in the late eighties, when I was in high school. I was aware that…
