One of the most mind-boggling statistics that I’ve ever come across in all my reading was the one by Vaclav Smil on China’s cement consumption: In 2018 and 19, China produced nearly as much cement (about 4.4 billion tons) as did the United States during the entire 20th century (4.5 billion tons) Let that sink … Continue reading Impressions on China from Wang’s ‘Breakneck’
It's not often that one gets to attend three Carnatic music concerts over a single weekend in Delhi. Sanjay sang at the Andhra Bhawan this evening and he was in top form. As usual he was accompanied by Neyveli Venkatesh and Varadarajan. (The Men in White) Valachi - the Navaragamalika Varnam Parvataraja in Sriranjini (Dikshitar … Continue reading Sanjay Subrahmanyan at Andhra Bhawan
As part of the KNMA Music Festival, curated by TM Krishna, Jayanthi Kumaresh performed this morning at 7.30 am. Despite the hassle of roadblocks due to the Delhi Marathon, and the even bigger task of waking up and lugging two disgruntled kids at 6:30 a.m, we managed to make it on time.. She was accompanied … Continue reading Jayanthi Kumaresh at Sundar Nursery
I return to Delhi as I return to my mistress Bhagmati when I have had my fill of whoring in foreign lands. Delhi and Bhagmati have a lot in common. Having been long misused by rough people they have learnt to conceal their seductive charms under a mask of repulsive ugliness. It is only to … Continue reading The Khushwant Singh of Our Times
Last evening Ganesh and Kumaresh, performed at the Kamani Auditorium as part of the annual Parampara Festival organized each year by Natya Taringini. The concert was short and in under two hours, the duo performed: A Purvi Kalyani piece A Ragam Thanam Pallavi in Kalyanavasantam (a raagam I got to listen to after ages) and … Continue reading Ganesh-Kumaresh at Kamani
A Brighter Summer Day: The Taiwanese auteur Edward Yang’s masterpiece was a four hour long drama. I would have enjoyed it better had I seen it in one or maximum two sittings. The story takes place in the early sixties when many families who had fled from mainland China after 1949 were still struggling to … Continue reading What I Watched – September 2025
Last week, I attended a heritage walk in Old Delhi exploring the Thugs of India, organized by Gaurav Sharma from India Heritage Trails. After the walk, I picked up Mike Dash’s ‘Thug: The True Story Of India's Murderous Cult’ and learnt quite a bit about this lesser known period of our history. Bandits and highway … Continue reading The Thugs of Hindustan
Coriolanus - a historical figure of Ancient Rome who lived four centuries before Julius Caesar, has a play on his life written by the Bard. Despite it being one of his lesser-known works, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it. In a nutshell, Shakespeare’s Coriolanus is a killing machine, who after winning many a … Continue reading Coriolanus
In 1971, during the height of the East Pakistan refugee crisis, the philosopher Peter Singer published an essay called Famine, Affluence, and Morality in which the ‘Shallow Pond’ thought experiment - one of philosophy’s most profound thought experiments - made its appearance. On your way to work, you pass a small pond. Children sometimes play … Continue reading The Shallow Pond and the Life You Can Save
Cleopatra was not the exotic, scheming, and lustful queen of legend who ensnared Rome’s greatest men. Her affairs with Pompey, Caesar, and Antony were historic realities, but these were driven by realpolitik. As Adrian Goldsworthy writes: Cleopatra was not another Helen of Troy, a mythical figure about whom the most important thing was her beauty. … Continue reading Antony and Cleopatra
