Elephant and Donkey Tribes of Politics

The Motorcycle Guru Speaks.

On Feminism

It has been eight months since I started my MFA at Bennington College. In the last eight months I have cooked half a dozen meals. I pack my children lunches and I clean up the kitchen after my husband when he makes dinner for the family after he comes home from working in a Silicon Valley tech company. Cooking has never moved me. Motherhood has—but not the baggage of social dos and don'ts that accompanied it. I have done fewer play dates than the meals I have cooked in the past few months, and I rarely go to a birthday party. My husband takes the children to their social engagements. “But is this fair?” you might ask and I answer, “It is not about fairness, it is about what moves you as a person and how to keep that flame of what keeps you alive, burning within you, while negotiating roles in an adult world that still largely favors men over women.”

Of Wedding Bells And Hospital Bills

Not another invite,” I groaned, picking up a thick cream and red colored envelope.

A New Lease Of Life

How an Indian grandmother started making heart-healthy choices.

A Mother Loses Her Child: Fact And Fiction Coalesce

LUCKY BOY by Shanthi Sekaran. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House, New York. 472 pages. Hardcover. $27.00

From The Hood Without A Loo

TOILET: A LOVE STORY. Director Shree Narayan Singh. Players: Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Padnekar, Anupam Kher, Sudhir Pandey, Divyendu Sharma, Subha Khote. Hindi w/ Eng. Sub-tit. (Viacom).

Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness

A LIFE OF ADVENTURE AND DE- LIGHT by Akhil Sharma. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.: New York. 202 pages. wwnorton.com $24.95 hardcover.

Who Was Enid Blyton?

Raised in and out of India, I don’t remember reading too many Enid Blyton novels—barring those from the Noddy series. I knew, though, they were all the rage among girls—mostly girls. They’d spend hours reading them and like fish in a school, prattle over what they’d read over their lunchboxes.

Victoria And Abdul: It Looks A Lot Like Love

VICTORIA AND ABDUL. Director: Stephen Frears. Screenwriter: Lee Hall, based on book by Shrabani Basu. Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Tim Pigott-Smith and Michael Gambon. Focus Features, 2017. MPAA Rating: PG-13

Looters, Schemers And A Curse

Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond.

Down Memory Lane In Manali

When I was seven, I lived in Manali for a year and a half. My favorite memories from that time are of seeing my first snowfall and getting our first dog. Apart from that, we had only experienced all the usual spots on a tourist’s checklist—the Hadimba temple, Manikaran hot springs and the Rohtang pass. When I got a chance to revisit this place from my childhood, after a gap of 23 years, I naturally jumped at the opportunity!

The Fault In The Stars

SUBH MANGAL SAAVDHAN. Director: K. S. Prasanna. Players: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar. Music: Tanishk Bagchi, Vayu. Hindi with English sub-titles (Eros).

A Month Of Saturdays

SIMRAN. Director: Hansal Mehta. Players: Kangana Ranaut, Hiten Kumar, Kishore Shahane, Sohum Shah, Rupinder Nagra, Aneesh Joshi. Music: Sachin-Jigar. Hindi, Gujarati and English with English sub-titles. Theatrical release (T-Series).

Girivalam: Unique Experience At Tiruvannamalai

A sea of humanity, young and old surged through the streets. A trickle had started in the early afternoon and reached its peak as the moon rose and shone in bright and balmy glory. It was an auspicious full-moon (pournami in Tamil) night at Tiruvannamalai, the ancient temple town in Tamil Nadu, which nestles and thrives at the foot of the mountain Arunachala.

My Love Story With India

Valentine’s Day is almost here! Newspapers and magazines are awash with stories about romantic getaways and spots for dinner dates.

From Leh To Lamayuru

Here in the valley of the Indus, the sharp peaks of the Ladakh and Zanskar Ranges pierce the sky like jagged swords.

Campaign Rhetoric

“To appeal to the emotions of the public in a political campaign is sound— in fact, it is an indispensable part of the campaign.”— Edward Bernays, Propaganda.

New Zealand Beckons: Milford Sound

According to Maori legend, Lake Wakatipu was formed when the body of a sleeping giant was burnt by a Maori warrior, who wanted to ensure that the giant could never kidnap his beautiful daughter again. The fire caused the ice and snow on the surrounding mountains to melt, forming Lake Wakatipu. We drive past this turquoise glass-like lake from Queenstown, on our way to Milford Sound or Fjord land in the South Island of New Zealand, where the journey is touted to be as spectacular as the destination! We arrive at Te Anau which is the picturesque town that acts as the gateway to the fjords with the almost-perfect Lake Gunn.

“We Will Not Live In Fear:” Deepika Padukone

India Currents exclusive interview with Deepika Padukone

Music Concerts: To Go Or Not To Go?

U2 had rescheduled after their original concert was canceled after the Paris attacks. Later, Bono had said, “The least important voices tonight were the ones onstage, because more than any other night, what mattered wasn’t the melody, it was the harmony.” How can there be that harmony without an audience?

Digital Leaders

Dispatches from those who know how to increase your digital influence.

Murder Mystery Goes Back 100 Years

Murder Between the Lines by Radha Vatsal. Sourcebooks Landmark: Naperville, IL. 320 pages. sourcebooks.com. Radhavatal.com. Available in paperback and as a digital book.

YouTube : The Accepted Drug

I'd seen it before, I’d laughed at it before, I’d even sent it before, yet, there was this dying urge inside of me to see it, to laugh at it, to send it once more. It had occurred to me that maybe I was addicted, maybe I couldn’t get enough, maybe I couldn’t stop. Despite this, I continued, hour after hour, failing to remove myself from the unholy grave known as YouTube.

Coke Studio Pakistan: “What Are You Feeding Your Soul?”

At the age of 30, Rohail Hyatt, a Pakistani rock musician and founder of the band Vital Signs, woke up one morning to realize that he could not bear to hear the music he had been making since he had come of age.

Searching For Satyajit Ray's Iconic Room

I was in Calcutta to find a specific room among its millions and millions of rooms; a room that touched down in America in my early twenties via the magical Silk Road of cinema.

Having A Ball In Bali

Bali as a tourist destination is made even more popular because of the easy access through direct international flights from most countries. However, I opted to fly into Denpasar from Jakarta, after breaking journey there for two days. The 30 day free visa on arrival offer makes travelling to Indonesia a breeze and the formalities of the visa stamp at Jakarta airport are over in no time.

Flying Kicks, Three-point Landings And Stolen Kisses: 2016 On The Silver Screen

Flying kicks, three point landings and stolen kisses. As both budgets and box offices for Hindi movies reach new heights, two trends become strikingly obvious. First, movies that would play well to international audiences are more often than not getting green-lighted. Streamlined scripts and far-flung geographic settings, supported by India’s expanding international trade ties, are helping to expand the market for Hindi movies to the farthest corners of the globe. The other trend is the fondness for story lines taken from real life events—indeed, six of the ten films on this short list are based on real life stories. The convergence of real life and reel life and other movie highlights in a year of Hindi movies.

Desi Children's Bookstore

A Mirror, Window, and Door.