When the centre cannot hold, as W B Yeats warned in ‘The Second Coming’, things fall apart, and ‘mere anarchy is loosed upon the world’. This is where we seem to be today. Where do we go from here is the tormenting question. While drowning in despondency, I

December 16 of last year was a milestone in the history of Bangladesh. This was the day, 50 years ago, that the people’s rallying cry of ‘Joy Bangla’ metamorphosed into the reality of an independent nation. For a variety of reasons, it seemed a good time to

We relate to these stories, said one young man. I feel like he’s telling my story, said another. Easy read, said a third. But there are also layers, clarified a fourth, it’s not so simple. And it flows with feelings, said a young woman. Listen, I love

This Is London by Ben Judah was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction in 2016. This award is touted as the UK’s premier honour for a work of nonfiction, and for those who enjoy nonfiction, a visit to its website is a must. The 2021

We have all heard the phrase: ‘out of the mouths of babes’. This was one reason I had not picked up Malala Yousafzai’s book, I Am Malala, all these years. Yes, she had lived through a terrible experience — being shot at by Taliban terrorists — at

There are a few people in my life with whom no conversation is complete without a discussion about books: What are you reading now? Have you read this one? How did you like that other one? So, when I opened a surprise package the other day, my

Few in India have shown the gumption that actor Naseeruddin Shah did to call out those in India celebrating the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In a video he said, “Even as the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan is cause for concern for the whole

We’ve been uplifted, and the icing on the cake was the calm, confident, graceful gold medal-winning demeanour of Neeraj Chopra. So young, so dignified in execution and victory. Then came news of some people ‘celebrating’ the defeat of the women’s hockey team in the semi-final. They stood

All of us have stories to share from our experiences and we recount them, sometimes deadpan, sometimes blended with mirch masala and a crush of kasuri methi for the general listening pleasure. Among my mother’s all-time favourite stories concerned the golden-voiced, maverick yet endearing musician M Balamuralikrishna.

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…’ says Maria in The Sound of Music as she strums her guitar in the gorgeous outdoors of Austria in an attempt to teach her seven Von Trapp wards how to sing. In the case of

Early April, I returned to The Library Book months after having inserted a bookmark to indicate where I had stopped reading. Some of you may remember the name: it’s a book by Susan Orlean about a massive fire that was deliberately set off at the Los Angeles