“Welcome to Sweden, you lunatic,” says Karl. I’ve just landed in Stockholm, the 'Capital of Scandinavia', where the temperature is a bracing -19 degrees. Karl is a Swedish-Syrian architecture student. I know him from Hyderabad, where he had spent many uproarious years. “Come on, let us get
Chennai Live 104.8 FM is the only private radio station in the city that plays music by independent Indian artists. This month, the radio station, in association with Clementine Studios and IndiEarth, (re-)introduces The Purple Fest, a series of fortnightly gigs to promote live music in Chennai. Skrat
Amruta Patil. Amruta Patil, author of critically and popularly acclaimed graphic novels such as Kari (2008) and Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean (2012), will be in Pune this Monday to talk about her work and the process that drives it. Largely acknowledged as one of India's first
I first read Mohsin Hamid at high school at the insistence of a Pakistani friend. The year was 2006 and initially I was sceptical---of South Asian English literature in general, which I found tentative and unstimulating, ceaselessly cast into stereotypes; of the recent flood of largely forgettable first novels; even
To understand why I was only a little shocked---in an oh-my-god-you-had-sex-and-talked-about-it way, not a look-at-this-predator kinda way---when I read Nabokov’s Lolita at 16, you’d have to understand Indian culture. Even after laws banning child marriage were passed in India, there’s still something that resides just under the
Founded in 2007, Atma is a Mumbai-based organisation that aims to address the issue of quality education for underprivileged children and youth in the city. The N.G.O works in association with education-oriented N.G.O.s working with children and young adults across Mumbai, and helps them to
Way back in 2006, when I was but a youngling not halfway through high school, I went to see Taxiride in concert at Palace Grounds in my hometown, Bangalore. Courtesy Vh1 endlessly plugging the band that summer, I’d become a semi-fan of the largely mediocre Aussie band. But this
Tantalising mojitos, rumbas, rum, cigars, and exceptionally humble and friendly people---a potent combination that captures the spirit of Cuba. In spite of constantly being in the bad books of the Superpower, the fact that Cuba has managed to survive on its own terms while preserving its enviable culture definitely gives
Donate your used books to Books on Toast this week! Started in 2012 by Anuya Jakatdar with friends Shalaka Pai, Phalguni Desai, and Neha Bhatia, Books on Toast is a book donation drive and sale in Mumbai. After a successful run last year---the project raised Rs. 60,000 for Hamara
In order to address the rapidly growing market for young-adult fiction and nonfiction in the country, Penguin India has just launched Inked, a new imprint that will publish books by both new and established authors. Inked, a new young-adult imprint from Penguin India. Targeted at readers in the age group