LIFESTYLE
How do you solve a problem like MF Husain?
MF Husain was so prolific, and had such a wide range of interests, over his long career that often exhibitions are able to give only a limited idea of his range and his thinking. It doesn't help that so much of his work is squirreled away in private collections in India and abroad. So how to get a sense of the real MF Husain?
BOOKS
Murty Classical Library's Ranjit Hoskote: It is not meaningful to complain bitterly that ‘people from elsewhere’ are translating ‘our classics’
10 years of Murty Classical Library of India: Editorial board member Ranjit Hoskote on how the spiritual and secular 'entwined, entangled, mapped over each other' in the world that Indian classical texts emerged from, who can translate these texts and how these stories survive in multiple formats.
LIFESTYLE
Amrut Distilleries dedicates its first city-specific single malt to Kolkata; City of Joy to cost Rs 5,680 for 750 ml
Why Indian whisky maker Amrut is dedicating its first city-specific limited-edition whisky to Kolkata, the cost of Amrut Distilleries' 'City of Joy' single malt and where to buy one of the 1,800 bottles released in Kolkata.
BOOKS
Even the greatest Sanskrit playwrights went to secular sources for their stories and not just to Hindu myths and epics: Arshia Sattar
Author Arshia Sattar on the role of universities in the translation ecosystem, her new book comprising retellings of Sanskrit plays by greats like Kalidasa and Bhasa, and why she finally decided against including 'Bhavabhuti’s magnificent Uttara Rama Charita'.
LIFESTYLE
Economics Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee: 'In India, the act of eating and not eating is extraordinarily potent and political'
Economist Abhijit Banerjee on why he reads and writes cookbooks, his new book at the intersection of food and economics, democratizing the social sciences, and presenting new Indian flavour ideas to the world.
LIFESTYLE
Artist Subodh Gupta on why he continues to work with steel utensils, aluminium buckets: 'They are heavy with stories & emotions'
Artist Subodh Gupta grew up in a railway town in Bihar in the 1960s and '70s, and trained at the College of Art, Patna, from 1983 to 1988. Now he's returning to Patna with an exhibition at the Bihar Museum.
LIFESTYLE
Ramayana's Kumbhakaran, Lakshman and Urmila; risqué comedy in Kannada theatre; & a witch hunt: what to expect at Manam Theatre Festival 2024
Manam Theatre Festival 2024 will have workshops and panel discussions as well as plays about Lakshman and Kumbhakaran; Lakshman and Urmila; women with superpowers; and a female comic character who ran riot in Kannada theatre for decades before being sidelined and forgotten by history.
TRENDS
Ramachandra Guha: History doesn't have to be about kings & winners, it can be about the losers who had the right idea all along
From Rabindranath Tagore's engagement with nature at Santiniketan to JC Kumarappa's rural renewal, and from Patrick Geddes' neotechnic cities to Union Minister KM Munshi's Vana Mahotsava—Ramachandra Guha gives brief biographies of 10 people who thought about different aspects of human-nature interactions in India.
TRENDS
Among India's first major abstractionists, Bimal Das Gupta's art pays homage to the country's natural beauty
Delhi event: Around 90 artworks by the late Bimal Das Gupta—watercolours, oils, acrylics—are on show in the Capital for two days. The last time his works were shown was 10 years ago.
TRENDS
Paul John on how he got into the alcobev business & what to buy for your home bar ahead of Diwali 2024
MC Interview | Paul John says the bulk of his business comes from the Indian market, with Karnataka emerging on top. John Distilleries Pvt Ltd expects to top 22 million cases this year, he adds.
TRENDS
What to do if you spot a snake on a train? Herpetologist Nirmal U Kulkarni explains
'The most important thing when you see a snake is that you step back. We don't recommend running away, but it's always good to step back and see the snake.'
BOOKS
How a WhatsApp message inspired William Dalrymple to write 'The Golden Road'
William Dalrymple on ancient India's empire of ideas, and why his latest book 'The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World' could not have been written a decade ago.
LIFESTYLE
International Festival on Indian Dance 2024: Time for a major Indian dance evolution?
Sangeet Natak Akademi Chair Sandhya Purecha hopes the 2024 International Festival of Indian Dance, from October 16-21, will be like a 'manthan', churning ideas to 'grow the dance culture of India'.
ENTERTAINMENT
Gutar Gu Season 2 ending explained: Pehla nasha once again, DDLJ themes & Anuj-Ritu's long-distance blues
If producer Guneet Monga's 'Gutar Gu' Season 1 started with strong echoes from 'Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander' (1992), season 2 of the teen-love show ends with a nod to 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' (1995).
TRENDS
'By the time he came to Ponniyin Selvan, India had become a Republic': Gowri Ramnarayan on why Kalki wrote
Ponniyin Selvan returns: Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan first appeared in serialized form in a Tamil magazine between 1950 and 1954. Part 1 of Mani Ratnam's film adaptation of the story won the National Film Awards for Best Tamil Feature and Best Cinematography in 2024. Now, a new translation of the historical novel is paying special attention to the poetry in Kalki's writing.
ENTERTAINMENT
LOTR Rings of Power Season 2: A volcano erupts, mountain miners hit an evil vein & Ents return...
Alternative readings of 'The Rings of Power' OTT series, from a fight over natural resources and climate change to stories of friendship and adventure, good vs evil, and a psychological study into fear and deception.
ENTERTAINMENT
CTRL movie ending explained: Vikramaditya Motwane, Ananya Panday's AI thriller on Netflix is a cautionary tale for our times
CTRL on Netflix: As a movie about the dangers of sharing your life online and signing over rights without reading terms and conditions, Vikramaditya Motwane's Netflix thriller is on-point and adequately scary.
ENTERTAINMENT
Highway Love 2 review: Kartik & Inaaya's sweet love story returns, with a pitstop at Gen Z angst
After Amazon Prime Video's Flames opposite Tanya Maniktala, Ritvik Sahore returns as the (almost) perfect boyfriend with an inferiority complex in Highway Love Season 2.
TRENDS
Devdutt Pattanaik: 'Mythology is the map of the human mind; it communicates to us through stories, symbols, rituals'
Devdutt Pattanaik on his new book 'Ahimsa', his reflections on the Harappan Civilization, and why he finds endless inspiration for modern living in mythologies.
HEALTH-AND-FITNESS
World Heart Day 2024 | 'Heart attack deaths in 40s & 50s are not new, but they are preventable'
How to prevent heart attack deaths in 40s and 50s: Some basic health checks like a lipid profile, seeing a doctor when you're feeling uneasy or ill and avoiding sudden changes like a strenuous exercise routine when you are not used to working out can all help.
ENTERTAINMENT
Ulajh ending explained: Janhvi Kapoor, Roshan Mathew, Sakshi Tanwar indicate a Black Cats sequel
The ending of Ulajh, now streaming on Netflix, offers the possibility of a sequel where Janhvi Kapoor could return as a trained spy and fighter, and Roshan Mathew could have a much larger role as an intelligence officer on a mission.
TRENDS
How 19th century photography fixed pre-colonial India's image in the world
An exhibition in Delhi makes a case to see 19th century photos of Indian monuments as 'objects to think with'.
TRENDS
Ancient India's knowledge transfer to the world is the subject of William Dalrymple's new book
Commerce along sea routes was central to how Ancient Indian ideas spread around the world. William Dalrymple's new book traces how these ideas changed the world forever.
TRENDS
Luxury watch maker Franck Muller's Erol Baliyan: 'All our focus is in India now'
MC exclusive interview: Swiss watchmaker Franck Muller's Erol Baliyan identifies smaller timepieces, watches with diamond detailing and unusual shapes among the key trends in luxury watches in India for festive season 2024.
