LIFESTYLE
How birdsong, wind and rain made Jodhpur RIFF 2025 a roots music festival to remember
Throughout Jodhpur RIFF 2025, from October 2-6, the elements — rain, wind, birdsong, moonlit nights — seemed to play a main role. Naturally. Fittingly. Importantly. Like it would have been a different concert, and a different experience without these inputs from nature.
LIFESTYLE
Delhi events: An art show that's all about Indian sculpture in the 20th century, in 40-plus works
'Sculpting the Century', an art exhibition at the Triveni Kala Sangam, is like a sampling menu of the biggest names in modern Indian sculpting in the 20th century - with some (expected and unexpected) lacunae.
TRENDS
Bhagavad Gita for Everyday Living author Swami Mukundananda: 'AI handles information, and the Gita guides intention'
Swami Mukundananda on his new book 'Bhagavad Gita for Everyday Living: Selected Verses with Key Takeaways', what the Bhagavad Gita teaches us, and its relevance for modern living in the age of artificial intelligence and more scientific discoveries.
LIFESTYLE
Games People Play 02: Thukral & Tagra mark 20 years in Indian art with show featuring modified table tennis, multitasking game
As they complete 20 years of their art practice, artists Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra bring out games they have designed and modified over the years for visitors to play, see, hear.
BOOKS
‘The work of history is the work of civilization’ — Prof Ruby Lal on writing feminist history, erasures from history
South Asian History Professor at Emory University, US, Ruby Lal explains her approach to Mughal history; reading signs of Nur Jahan’s co-sovereignty in memoir, court documents and art history; and why erasures from history textbooks are a problem.
INDIA
How to end gold smuggling in India and negotiate better gold prices for Indian buyers, an IIM-A professor explains
IIM-A Professor and author of 'The Power of Gold' Sundaravalli Narayanaswami explains why curtailing gold imports to manage current account deficit does not work in India, and how - when it comes to buying gold in India - culture eats economists for breakfast.
LIFESTYLE
'To work with leather today is to enter a space of ethical and conceptual responsibility': India Design ID Mumbai 2025 artist Meera
An artist presenting work at the India Design ID Mumbai, from September 26-28, explains why she works with leather and why she is more interested to evoke the ways in which our world responds to the laws of physics than depicting any one physical form through her work.
LIFESTYLE
In photos: 48 Raja Ravi Varma prints with fabric and zari embellishments are on show in Australia
India-Australia cultural exchange: With a 'Maitri' grant from the Australian government and help from conservationists at the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru, an art gallery in Brisbane is showing Raja Ravi Varma's prints - embellished with fabric, zardozi and bundgi dots - till October 5.
INDIA
What if the UK were ruled by India in the near future? Scottish MP Alan Gemmell's novel engages with gritty fictional and real-world problems
Different kind of Raj novel: UK Labour MP Alan Gemmell on imagining Britain as a colony of India in his political thriller '30th State', teaching the history of empire in British schools, and returning art to former colonies.
LIFESTYLE
We are trying not to repeat the mistakes we made in China in India: Sowind chief financial officer Alain Sponem
Alain Sponem, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Sowind Group SA, which owns Swiss luxury watch brands Ulysse Nardin and Girard-Perregaux, on which of the two brands gives him more sleepless nights, the management buyout from YSL-owner Kering, and shifts in the luxury market.
LIFESTYLE
Bharatanatyam practitioners across US, UK... India are giving the dance form a contemporary urgency: Leela Samson
Indian Classical Dance today: Dancer-choreographer Leela Samson unpacks histories and movements that have brought us to the present moment in Bharatnatyam, in 'Dance of Freedom: A Short History of Bharata Natyam'.
BOOKS
'There's nothing Urduish about Urdu. Urdu is about the world the writer is living in': Rakhshanda Jalil
An anthology of Urdu short stories attempts to bust stereotypes around who writes in Urdu, and for whom. Editor Rakhshanda Jalil explains why she chose to keep the subtitle - Stories by Non-Muslim Urdu Writers - even though it made her 'cringe'.
LIFESTYLE
‘Between the river and the ridge’: Peeling back layers of Delhi history, from the Mughal period to the rise of key cultural institutions at Mandi House
After Kolkata and Mumbai, DAG – formerly Delhi Art Gallery – brings its City As A Museum programme to the Capital; with visits to diverse corners from Rashtriyapati Bhavan to the Sunday Book Market at Daryaganj; an exhibition; and an immersive audio tour, among other events.
BOOKS
Book review: Arundhati Roy's candid memoir, about her relationship with mother Mary Roy, is unputdownable
Arundhati Roy shot to international fame after becoming the first Indian citizen to win the Booker Prize for her novel, 'The God of Small Things'. Her memoir, 'Mother Mary Comes to Me', is a moving account of her relationship with her influential mother.
LIFESTYLE
How to display art beyond hanging it on a wall, and more questions answered at the 2025 Delhi Contemporary Art Week
At Delhi Contemporary Art Week, a look at contextual ways to display the art pieces in your collection, an engagement with the materiality and ideas in contemporary sculpture, and an experience of how art itself can respond to its environment and reference its own source.
TRAVEL
Best place you likely haven’t seen in Mumbai: Orchidarium in Borivali and the historic Kanheri Caves
Accessible by Mumbai Metro, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park orchidarium and Kanheri Caves trek offer up a greener, quieter, historic side of the maximum city.
BOOKS
Bestselling author Samantha Shannon: 'Twitter drove me to a dark place over the decade I was there'
Oxford University graduate Samantha Shannon on the latest book in her bestselling fantasy series 'The Bone Season', using social media, and the 'author preferred' version of her dystopian and fantasy novels.
LIFESTYLE
What Malaika Arora drinks when she's at her Juhu restaurant: No-fuss infused waters and cold-pressed juices for immunity, healthy hair
What to drink if you're not drinking alcohol on a night out with friends? We visited the Hydration Bar at Scarlett House, Juhu, Mumbai, to see if the infused waters and cold press juice options on offer here hold water.
LIFESTYLE
Is audience engagement key in Carnatic music? RaGa sisters Ranjani Gayatri explain why it's the future of Indian Classical
Carnatic vocalists Ranjani and Gayatri on how there's a constant manthan in the Indian Classical space, and why you don't need to know the language or be immersed in the culture to appreciate the music.
LIFESTYLE
Rujuta Diwekar: 'Home-cooking is the OG form of self-love and self-care'
Nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar on her first book of recipes, the concept of Mitahara, mainstreaming forgotten foods, what to eat during monsoons, and her recipe for making goda masala at home.
LIFESTYLE
A Drag musical in the Capital: 5 Delhi Drag queens explain the why and how
Delhi events: ‘Superqueens’ at The Piano Man follows the life of five real-life Drag queens with stories to tell about why they Drag and what it takes. A second show of the musical is scheduled for Sunday, July 13.
ENTERTAINMENT
Ishwak Singh starrer Mitti: Ek Nayi Pehchaan pays homage to India’s agri-tech ventures
In its end-roll, Mitti: Ek Nayi Pehchaan mentions seven agritech ventures led by well-educated and well-funded entrepreneurs who have made it their business to generate employment and make a living off farming in Indian villages. It's early days in the shift from Indian cities to villages yet.
LIFESTYLE
How readers—and writers—are finding their book tribe
Book clubs, communities and events have persisted in the 21st century—albeit in different formats, and sometimes with the help of richer media that makes it possible to connect more deeply and quickly with favourite authors and fellow fans.
ENTERTAINMENT
BBC Studios' 'The Traitors' has made a killer transition from party game to reality TV. Things to consider as episodes 7 to 9 drop on OTT
In 'The Traitors India', feelings of betrayal, backstabbing, backsliding, backbiting, back talk and the just plain bickering bubble over often, but there's also celebration when the game is played well.
