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
I thought that the 250th anniversary celebrations may be a good time to read up on the Revolution and get a better handle on the event. Gordon S. Wood’s ‘The American Revolution: A History’ and the great Ken Burns’ 12 hour, six-episode documentary which came out last year were two excellent points to start. Despite … Continue reading The American Revolution
In Greek mythology, Zeus transforms himself into a swan and has sex with Leda. Through the union, Leda lays eggs from which emerge Helen (yes, the Helen of Troy), Castor, Pollux and Clytemnestra. In art, especially during the Renaissance, this copulation (rape is a more appropriate word I guess) was attempted by many artists. Years … Continue reading Leda and the Swan
My friend Dr. Shahjahan Avadi, an Air Force veteran and Disaster Management professional has been instrumental in bringing the Air Force Museum into the heritage-walk calendar of INTACH. While I couldn’t attend his previous walks, I did manage to attend the one he organized this Sunday. The Air Force museum contrary to my expectation, had … Continue reading Indian Air Force Museum, Palam
I knew Lyon was the gastronomical capital of France. But after landing there, I also learnt that in addition to being the location from where Caeser launched his campaign against the Gauls, it was also the nerve center of the Resistance movement during the Nazi occupation of France. One reason for this was also its … Continue reading Lyon Notes
In popular imagination, the Allied invasion of continental Europe is dominated by the Normandy Landings. The opening amphibious landing scene in Spielberg’s ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and the Cold War narrative of the joint Anglo-American thrust to free Europe and clear the road to Berlin have both contributed to this narrative. The truth was that months … Continue reading The Forgotten ‘Battle for Italy’ and Naples in 1944
Military life inflamed their ironic sensibilities and their skepticism. A single crude acronym that captured the soldier's lowered expectations-SNAFU, for "situation normal, all fucked up"-had expanded into a vocabulary of GI cynicism: SUSFU (situation unchanged, still fucked up); SAFU (self-adjusting fuck-up); TARFU (things are really fucked up); FUMTU (fucked up more than usual); JANFU (joint … Continue reading GI Slang
I spent 24 hours in Imphal. And in that brief window, gained a glimpse into the complex, fractured society of Manipur, thanks to the company of an erudite and deeply informed local resident. Manipur has always been a tinderbox due to its ethnic composition. The Meiteis, Kukis, Nagas and the Muslims form the main ethnic … Continue reading Imphal Notes
I spent the Eid weekend, revisiting the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Scott Anderson’s ‘King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah and the Revolution That Forged Modern Iran’ and Ryszard Kapuscinski’s ‘Shah of Shahs’ (which I’m revisting after 15 years) are good primers about the revolution. Over the last two years, seeing the protests of … Continue reading The 1979 Islamic Revolution
To him, Plath was ‘Laurentian’, not ‘women’s lib’ – that is, a disciple of D. H. Lawrence’s sexually liberated creative philosophy, not a campaigner for women’s rights. This line in Heather Clarke’s highly engrossing biography of Sylvia Plath, Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, stumped me. I had no clue … Continue reading Laurentian Feminism
