Sikkil Gurucharan at Chinmaya Mission Auditorium, New Delhi

Sikkil was accompanied by the legendary Umayalpuram Sivaraman (going strong at 91) on the mridangam, Delhi Sriram on the violin and B.S Purushotam on the Khanjira. Chalamela (Varnam) in Nattaikurinji Siddhi Vinayakam in Shanmukhapriya by Dikshitar Kanintharul Purinthal in Kalyani by Papanasam Sivan Nenarunichi Nanu in Maalavi by Thyagaraja Chesinadella in Todi by Thyagaraja I … Continue reading Sikkil Gurucharan at Chinmaya Mission Auditorium, New Delhi →

The Remarkable Shivaji

Thanks to being the resident Social Science teacher at home, I got to read the content on Shivaji in the Class VIII NCERT textbook. The chapter made random references to Afzal Khan, Shivaiji’s raid of Surat, his defeat by Jai Singh, the famous escape from Agra, his coronation, Tarabai, Thanjavur etc. The mandatory reference to … Continue reading The Remarkable Shivaji →

Emily Eden’s ‘Ranjit Singh’

Until yesterday, the only Eden that I knew was Antony Eden, the British PM remembered for the disastrous Suez Crisis of 1956. Apparently, Lord Auckland, the Governor General of India from 1836-42 was an ancestor of Eden. When Lord Auckland was posted in India, he was accompanied by his sister Emily Eden who ended up … Continue reading Emily Eden’s ‘Ranjit Singh’ →

Botticelli in Delhi

The Humayun Tomb Museum has a special exhibition called ‘One Mother, Many Mother Tongues’ which explores how the concept of motherhood has been a constant motif in civilizations across millennia both in the East and the West. With just a few pieces from various Indian and Italian collections, the exhibition was quite interesting. By focussing … Continue reading Botticelli in Delhi →

Forster’s ‘Howards End’ and the Intellectual Life

Forster should be more widely read. After having finished ‘A Passage to India’, ‘A Room with a View’ and now ‘Howards End’, I can confidently say that he’s one of the sharpest chroniclers of social relationships in the late Victorian and Edwardian era. Howards End is firmly rooted in the Edwardian era where the three … Continue reading Forster’s ‘Howards End’ and the Intellectual Life →

Isabel Archer in ‘The Portrait of a Lady’

In 1881, America was a relatively young country while Europe was associated with grandeur, heritage and an aristocratic culture shaped by centuries of history. The psychological complexity of America’s engagement with this was the heart of Henry James’ fiction. He was the brother of the equally famous psychologist William James and the two of them … Continue reading Isabel Archer in ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ →