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Not Just a Walk in the Park
Long roadtrips are great – we love those so much. We often dream of saddling up on a BMW R1250GS and riding off into the sunset. Or, for the times we crave air-conditioned comfort and when a motorcycle just won’t do, we think of the Mahindra Thar, which has a rugged charm that’s all its…
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‘Sci-Fi turning into a ground for political commentary is not a recent phenomenon’
Based in Calcutta, Sayan Chattopadhyay is a PhD scholar at Adamas University, with a rather unusual set of research areas, including science-fiction, dystopian studies, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic studies and posthumanism. One of his recent papers on the politics behind superhero costumes has been selected for presentation at an international conference by the University of New…
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Book Review: Raw Umber – A Memoir
‘Some of the boxes had never been opened. The viscous oil colours dried up and hardened, and the tight caps were difficult to unscrew. Raw Umber, Gamboge, Cobalt Blue, Scarlet Lake, Ultramarine…,’ says Sara Rai, speaking of the tubes of paint her father – of whom she writes at length and with great affection –…
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Big Billion Startup: In Conversation with Mihir Dalal
A seasoned business journalist, Mihir has worked with CNBC TV 18, Reuters News and Mint, and has written extensively on startups and ecommerce companies. His first book, Big Billion Startup, which charted the rise of India’s own ecommerce behemoth, was a smash hit when it was released in 2019. The book won prestigious awards, including…
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Anglo-Indian Stories: The Books You Must Read
Risen from our colonial past, the Anglo-Indian community in India is unique in many ways, and an invaluable part of modern India. When British (or other European, mainly Portuguese) men married Indian women, mostly in the late-19th and early- to mid-20th centuries, their progeny came to be known as Anglo-Indians. After 1947 – through the…
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My Life With Books: Karthik Venkatesh
Based in Bangalore, Karthik is an Executive Editor with Penguin Random House and the love of his life is… of course, books! He reads quite extensively, across a diverse range of genres and in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, Kannada and Punjabi. He is a writer as well and has written for Mint Lounge, The…
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Bad Medicine: The 7 Books That Took On Big Pharma
Truth is stranger than fiction, they say. And that sure seems to be the case in the world of medicine. Over the last two decades, the pharma industry has earned significant disrepute for the dark, dubious ways in which it sometimes functions. Pharma companies (especially those that manufacture generic drugs), many of which have often…
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Our Must-Reads List for April
Our wishlist of books for April is diverse as always; from an account of the rise and fall of the Pahalvis of Iran, to the life and times of Sabira Merchant, and from the genius of Nikola Tesla to stories and struggles of Northeast India. For good measure, there’s also a really short history of…
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Book Review: Just Aspire – Notes on Technology, Entrepreneurship and the Future
The background:Back in 1975-76, Ajai Chowdhry, a young engineer from Jabalpur left a stable, secure job with DCM Data Products and joined forces with Shiv Nadar and four other associates to set up a company that would design and manufacture computers; Hindustan Computers Ltd. (HCL) was born. Remember, this was back in the day when…
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The Art and Science of Reading: An Essay
Vinay Varma is a senior management consultant with focus on strategy, planning, processes and systems. He has previously worked in the areas of strategic planning, business development, corporate communications, IT product design and research. He is also a multidisciplinary scholar with an eclectic range of interests, and reads extensively. Here, he talks about the reading…
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