
Walk with us as we explore places, regional cuisines, learn some arts and crafts, dig up some history, meet a few interesting people, and add more books to our shelves on this long journey.

Poetry Corner: Volume 7
It’s raining cats and dogs here. The days are dull, gloomy but ever so often they invoke terror and awe like Arundhathi Subramaniam’s poetry. The aftermath is a clear, washed-up sky, which has you marvelingContinue reading “Poetry Corner: Volume 7”

Introducing the Shop
Hi there! This has been in the works for ages. We are starting with a couple of notebooks in what we call ‘The Hope Series.’ The artwork is based on poetry that we love and keep going back to. As you flip the pages while jotting down your notes and impressions, we hope these verses provide you the same anchor.Continue reading “Introducing the Shop”

Other Worlds of Isaac Asimov
Earth – that pale blue dot – planet – home. It’s not the lonely speck Carl Sagan spoke of. In the Other Worlds of Asimov, the universe is home toContinue reading “Other Worlds of Isaac Asimov”

A bibliophile’s guide to the city’s bookstores
The last time I visited a bookstore (which was just last week), I sat down to read Neil Gaiman’s The View from the Cheap Seats: incidentally, a chapter wherein he talksContinue reading “A bibliophile’s guide to the city’s bookstores”

In exile
Walking in the mist, you wonderIs this the stuff or dreams or nightmares?How many who lay herecarried the dream of a Free Tibet?Waking to a past, untouched bythe mystics ofContinue reading “In exile”

Bookmark

Good Omens, Beastly Tales & Saki
Good Omens: Angels, demons, witches, prophecies, the end of the world – this one’s got it all. Given that it’s a Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collaboration, there’s the expectedContinue reading “Good Omens, Beastly Tales & Saki”

Prelude to a riot
India today is a nation of frayed seams. Prelude to a Riot tells the story of one such unraveling in a small Southern town with the help of two familiesContinue reading “Prelude to a riot”

Small Days and Nights & Shikhandi
Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi: Grace is unaware that she has an elder sister. It’s only at her mother’s funeral that she learns of Lucia, who lives inContinue reading “Small Days and Nights & Shikhandi”

Poetry Corner: Volume 6
What kind of times are these? Families aren’t even given dead bodies to grieve. Activists, journalists and NGOs are under the scanner, if not behind bars already. Somewhere, women don’tContinue reading “Poetry Corner: Volume 6”

Travel

Melting Pot
It was evening when we walked into the blue gates of Andretta pottery. Country music was spilling out into the lane, blending perfectly with theContinue reading “Melting Pot”

A walk with the wildflowers at Kaas
Come September, the Kaas plateau comes to life. Tiny blooms, shrubs, orchids, even carnivorous plants blossom on the plateau, which is located in the SataraContinue reading “A walk with the wildflowers at Kaas”

Rock fusion
In the winding lanes of Panchgani, animals and birds take on a different sheen. The peacock by the tiny lotus pond is easily spotted, butContinue reading “Rock fusion”

In Pics: The Island God
Indian mythology has some fascinating tales. An hour-long ferry from Gateway takes you to Elephanta or the Gharapuri Island, where different forms and facets of Shiva are laid out in vivid detail. The imposing figureContinue reading “In Pics: The Island God”

Food, Art, People

From the Coast: A Prawn and Mango Curry Recipe
When you are born in a coastal town, seasons revolve around fish. Summers may invoke mango fervour, but it’s alsoContinue reading “From the Coast: A Prawn and Mango Curry Recipe”

Reading Braille with White Print magazine’s Upasana Makati
More than 9 million people in India are blind and millions more are visually impaired. Yet, a simple question –Continue reading “Reading Braille with White Print magazine’s Upasana Makati”

Shades of love
Modern love may be a swipe away, but it’s still messy. Ask Mumbai-based illustrator Indu Harikumar. When she started 100 Indian Tinder TalesContinue reading “Shades of love”

Sweet Nibbles
When the pandemic nudged so many of us back into the kitchen, it also made us turn to old comfort recipes. Ones that had been forgotten, or replaced with easier alternatives, including packaged food. TheContinue reading “Sweet Nibbles”

There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more. …Lord Byron