Over the weekend, I read the French political theorist Olivier Roy’s superb ‘Is Europe Christian?’ and was mighty impressed by his analysis and arguments. The transformations of Christianity since the time of Christ are well documented. Luther’s Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution during the Enlightenment, the separation of Church and State brought about by the … Continue reading Christianity in Europe Today
The South Side Story, is organizing their annual South Indian music festival in Delhi this weekend. I went yesterday and caught Sithara of Project Malabaricus, TM Krishna and Agam performing live. Sithara was hands-down the highlight of the evening. With her rustic, folksy voice she really got my attention. Towards, the end she sang a … Continue reading South Side Story Music Festival 2024
Bharat Sundar sang at the India International Center a few weeks back; a short, brisk concert without too many fireworks. Karpagame in Malayamarutham Sogasuga Mridunga in Sriranjani (hearing this after ages) Padmavati Ramanam in Purvi Kalyani. (Oothakadu composition that I was hearing for the first time. Also learnt that this was composed as a tribute … Continue reading Bharat Sundar at IIC
The only thing I knew about Shahnaz Habib’s ‘Airplane Mode’ was that it was a book on travel that had garnered a decent amount of attention. Within a few pages, to my delight, I discovered that the Brooklyn-based writer dissecting her anxieties of traveling off the beaten track in Rumi’s Konya and Istanbul was a … Continue reading Shahnaz Habib’s ‘Airplane Mode’
There’s a famous photograph of Robert Capa’s that has been pinned to the bulletin board above my desk for a number of years. It was taken in 1948 on a beach in France, and it shows a smiling young woman dressed in a cotton gown and a large straw hat striding forward across the sands … Continue reading Vivian Gornick on Picasso…
How did the idea of the ‘West’ emerge? Naoíse Mac Sweeney, in a sweeping narrative, presents a compelling argument in The West: A New History in Fourteen Lives. The Greek and Roman empires are central to the identity of the ‘West’ today. But how did this narrative arc emerge? Her fascinating arguments: Herodotus, in his … Continue reading The Evolution of the Idea of ‘The West’
Writing about happiness is probably one of the hardest things to do. Writing about trauma is far easier and also cathartic. For Rushdie: Happiness writes in white ink on white pages. In other words, you can’t make it appear on the page. It’s invisible. It doesn’t show up. Twenty-three years after the Fatwa, Rushdie was … Continue reading Rushdie’s ‘Knife’
Last week, a friend of mine who’s relocating abroad, shared a predicament of his. He has a Jamini Roy in his collection which cannot be shipped to his new residence. It was only then that I got to know about the Government of India-designated list of Nine Gems whose works are classified as National Treasures. … Continue reading National Treasures
Over the last two weekends, INTACH, in collaboration with ThisDay, organized a Heritage Walk-Leader Training Programme in Delhi. On a whim, I joined it and found it thoroughly enriching. The programme was a blend of lectures and on-site walks stressing the Dos and Don’ts of conducting heritage walks. The star-studded lineup of speakers included Swapna … Continue reading Heritage Walk-Leader Training Programme
As I had written earlier, I read Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Miserables’ last month and I’ve been busy dipping into the commentaries and analyses of the work. Mario Vargas Llosa’s lectures on ‘Les Miserables’ is collected as a volume called ‘The Temptation of the Impossible’. Reading it, I discovered that our man Hugo was a sex-addict … Continue reading The Sexual Exploits and Secret Diaries of Victor Hugo and Keynes
