Maata ni Pachhedi: Celebrating the Mother Goddess
Somewhere among the pages of a thirty year-old diary, which I maintained as a schoolgirl, I still have “Maata ni Pachhedi” scrawled. The diary had questions from Quiz Time and India Quiz, and everytime Siddhartha Basu asked…
Usha Uthup: The bad girl with Kanjeevaram sneakers
Dressed in a gorgeous Kanjeevaram silk saree, her trademark big bindi adorning her forehead, she climbs up the stage gingerly. She is 71 and her hair has streaks of grey. She looks the complete antithesis of what…
The Tree of Life insignia and Sidi Saeed Mosque
On my first trip to Ahmedabad, I was at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A) for my niece’s convocation ceremony. IIM-A’s logo is the Tree of Life insignia. The insignia is derived from the intricate stone-carved window…
The Jaipur Literature Festival: A carnival to remember
Resplendent peacocks welcome you as you enter the gates of Diggi Palace. And then you are subjected to an airport style scan and frisking — only done a lot more politely and quickly. The vibrant colours of…
The ‘tantalising’ painted storks
The word ‘tantalise’ means ‘desirable but just out of reach’. This word is derived from the Greek mythological figure Tantalus. As the legend goes, Tantalus is a son of Zeus who is an evil doer. In one…
Rani ni Vav: The queen among stepwells
Have you had a chance to look at the new lavender-coloured hundred rupee note? Turn it to the reverse side and you will see a motif of Rani ki vav. Rani ki vav (or Rani ni vav…
The reward for a lifetime of work
I received this picture on a family Whatsapp group yesterday. And this morning it was all over the papers. The lady in the blue saree is my Bua, my father’s youngest sister. Dr Geeta Kumari. She heads…
The revival of Ajrakh
I have always been fond of the Indigo range sold by Fab India and own several of their block-printed kurtas and some sarees. The patterns and aesthetics of Ajrakh have always appealed to me. But I knew…
Jeffrey Archer: I’m more a story teller than a writer
Jeffrey Archer sells more copies of his novels in India than in any other country in the world. He narrates an amusing anecdote where he stepped off the plane in Mumbai and was on a taxi to…
Gandhi and leprosy
When he lived in Sevagram, Mahatma Gandhi used to take long walks. One cold winter day in December 1939, as he stepped out of the ashram, he encountered a man who was carrying a bundle in his…
