If being born as a woman in Soviet Russia wasn’t miserable enough, imagine having Stalin as your dad. Svetlana Alliluyeva was Stalin’s only daughter. When Nadya, Stalin’s wife, shot herself after a heated argument with her husband, Alliluyeva was just six. For years, the Soviet machinery convinced her and the world that her mother had … Continue reading Stalin’s Daughter and her Indian lover
According to legend, when Muthuswami Dikshitar visited Ettayapuram in Tamil Nadu, he was moved by the plight of the people suffering from a severe drought. To alleviate their misery, he composed the kriti Anandamrutakarshini in the raga Amritavarshini. And, as legends would have it, it rained! So Amritavarshini is always associated with rains and the … Continue reading Amritavarshini
Thanks to the Dusshera long weekend, I dashed off to Jaipur for a quick two-day visit. This was my first Uber Intercity trip, and I was impressed. The Delhi-Jaipur highway was marvellous (by Indian road-design standards). The only catch was that road trips rarely allow me to relax. One wrong-side parking, a stray animal or … Continue reading Jaipur Notes
Periyar was an iconoclast in every sense. The anti-Hindi agitations for which Tamil Nadu is famous even today, the anti-Brahmin polemic in its politics, the quest for caste equality, women’s emancipation and rationality in public discourse are just a few aspects of our sociopolitical life whose roots can be traced, at least in part, to … Continue reading Periyar
I was browsing through Michael Pollan’s ‘The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World’ and the first chapter was on the Apple and its introduction to the New World. The apple originated in Central Asia, somewhere in present-day Kazakhstan. In fact, its capital Almaty owes it very name to the fruit – Alma-Ata … Continue reading On Apples
The struggling, misunderstood artist, aloof from the petty insecurities of the middle class and disdainful of wealth, is probably one of the most recognisable and done-to-death tropes in art, literature and popular culture. Such ‘artists’ even have a name – bohemians. David Weir in his 'A Very Short Introduction' to the topic defines them succinctly; … Continue reading Bohemians
Just Like Heaven: When was the last time I watched a Rom-Com? I should do more of this. Need more of such well-made syrupy stuff in life. Franklin: I began this anticipating it to be an entertaining capsule of Franklin's eventful mission to Paris. But the dark tones of the cinematography and the shallow script … Continue reading What I Watched – September 2026
Karan Mahajan’s The Complex was disappointing. It started with a bang. Gita, visiting her husband’s family home in Delhi, is raped by her husband’s uncle during a wedding. The narrative then shifts to her guilt, rage and the alienation that American cities are so good at generating. She dabbles in love outside her marriage, only … Continue reading Karan Mahajan’s ‘The Complex’
The Brits have always been dismissive of the French Revolution. Edmund Burke in his classic 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' correctly called out the eventual outcome of the whole revolution playing out across the Channel. He, like a prophet, predicted that the anarchy would eventually end in military rule and violence. In 1989, the … Continue reading Thatcher, Dickens and the French Revolution
I just finished Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’. The 850-page book is being adapted for the small screen, and the seven-episode series is dropping on Netflix in October. After reading this, I can confirm that Steinbeck’s best work is definitely ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ which I wrote about earlier. But nevertheless, the book kept me engaged. … Continue reading The Church and the Brothel: Steinbeck’s American West in ‘East of Eden’
