Reasons To Live: Richard Roper’s debut novel, How Not To Die Alone, is about a loner, who reminds the reader of the lead characters in Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called…

Wicked Women: In common usage, the word chudail describes an aggressive or quarrelsome woman—could be said to be the Indian equivalent of bitch.  But the origins of the chudail (often…

As a child, Kamlesh Mota auditioned for a school play, and expressed the intention of taking up theatre. His mother took him to the Bhangwadi Theatre in south Mumbai (a venue, now defunct,…

Hope Floats: Of all the characters in Angie Kim’s bestselling debut novel, Miracle Creek, Young Yoo gets the most  sympathy. The Korean woman comes to the US in the hope…

Fragrance Of Simplicity: Vidya Sinha, who passed away on August 15, was among a band of girls-next-door, who appeared in Bollywood around the same time in the Seventies; many of…

Rocket Science For Dummies Rating: *** When there are budget problems in the Mars Orbiter Mission undertaken by an ISRO scientist on a dare — because a NASA snob said it…

Trigger Unhappy: Rating: *** Delhi police could not have got a better PR job if they had actually commissioned Batla House. However, in the best stranger-than-fiction mode, Nikkhil Advani’s film is…

A one-woman stage presentation, Cast Off All Shame, by Ulka Mayur (in picture above), brought into focus the women Bhakti poets of India, who predated the feminist movement—as we know it…

Bridezilla Strikes:   There can be no wedding in our country, without high stress and drama, some of which playwright-director Veena Bakshi has captured with humour in Ank’s production of Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi.…

Land Of Half Lives:   News footage coming out of Kashmir is full of violence, and soldiers watching over an uneasy calm that could blow up in their faces if…