Once the universe had started expanding and the laws of physics came into existence in their present form, it was a only matter of time (approximately 200 million years) before slightly denser regions of nearly uniformly distributed matter gravitationally attracted nearby matter, thereby forming stars, galaxies, gas clouds, and other
A few years ago, I read a book by Shashi Tharoor called Bookless in Baghdad. It’s a collection of literary columns, articles, and reviews by Tharoor and one of the essays is practically an excoriation of R. K. Narayan. Okay, so I go a little far in describing it
It is 10 a.m. on a summer morning in Delhi. It is also a Sunday. Most people are indoors, trying to seek respite from the heat. But in Daryaganj, near Jama Masjid, there is a steady flow of people on the street. There are students, couples, foreigners, and even
It is lunch hour in Electronics City, Bangalore, and the place is literally swamped with customers. There is hardly any room to stand, let alone to have a peaceful meal and relax. Patrons have spilled over onto the adjacent street, much to the delight of the neighbouring cigarettewalla, where horns
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, lived a little princess. And when she would grow up to be a young lady with all the finesse and charm that a lady is expected to have, she would be in danger. And then she would whimper and suffer
Writers Jai Undurti and Jasraman Grewal view Hyderabad as a city in argument with itself. They got together a few years ago to create the Hyderabad Graphic Novel project, in order to capture images and moments from the great city; to tell unique stories that could only take place in
Veena Venugopal is a journalist, blogger, and most recently the author of Would You Like Some Bread with That Book? (Yoda Press). She has a love of books and bookstore fantasies, and in her collection of 14 essays she looks back on her life through a few memorable books that
In the lawless Bihar of the 1990s, a pregnant woman is raped barbarously, and yet again, justice is not delivered. Tuhin Sinha’s latest novel---The Edge of Desire---accentuates the vices that prevail in the Indian government and the extent to which Indian politics and legal systems can be manipulated and
Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur is a powerful announcement of the man’s vision for making movies with heart and with humour. Replete with profanity, lechery, drugs, and dirty secrets, Gangs of Wasseypur is one of the most bad-ass movies ever to hit the 70mm in India. While the
Yes, we have all read them while growing up. Believed in the ‘happily ever after’s and, of course, wanted our fair share of adventures. While some walked past the realm with age, some, like me, decidedly stayed fixated with the fables and folklore and went on, right ahead, to
Is power something to strive for or is it just one of many tools necessary for our survival? To what extent do our responsibilities and obligations define us? The Householder, Amitabha Bagchi's second novel, sheds some light on these questions and more. Based in New Delhi, the novel