Ideas News - Page 2
The iconic food writing of MKF Fisher
Ms Fisher's writing highlights the enjoyment and the experience of food, rather than the making of it. Her recipes, as a result, are quick, quiet affairs: a short list of ingredients and an illustrative description of how they are to be combined.
The transformative and surrealistic works of Tomas Tranströmer
This year's Nobel Prize winning poet, Tomas Tranströmer won't write about things you'd like to hear. The surrealism in his poetry is a treat to discover.
Shoaib vs Sachin: Competitive intolerance isn't the answer
Even if Shoaib Akhtar was talking through his hat when he said Sachin was not a match-winner, what is the point in protesting against the book?
Paris Hilton does Mumbai: Revenge of the brown sahibs, sorry, floozies
Cold-shouldered by the Bollywood elite, America's most famous skank discovered there's a new power equation between India and Hollywood celebrities. But in one unintended way, she also proved that we remain sad little wannabes, after all.
From Rushdie Twitter-fights to Facebook breakups: Social media goes toxic
A young woman commits suicide after she is dumped in real life and then re-dumped on Facebook. Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasrin have a catfight on Twitter. What's it about the social network that unleashes the inner jerk in us?
Corruption is our birth-right; Anna, please excuse us
From autorickshaw drivers to RTO inspectors to octroi post employees, everyone regards corruption as his birth-right. Will Anna's Lokpal help us here?
The importance of being Mallika Sarabhai
Her detractors say Mallika Sarabhai should just shut up and dance instead of spewing accusations against Narendra Modi. But Mallika Sarabhai was never very good at shutting up. And attacking her personal life isn't going to make her go away either.
India's most desirable menage-a-trois: Simi, KJo and the pink elephant
When Karan Johar showed up on Simi Garewal's Most Desirable, everyone wanted to know whether she'd pop the big question. She did. He answered. But the real fun comes in reading between their lines.
Serena's humanity is apparent now
When Serena Williams first came on the scene, she seemed to be just another avatar of Dhrishtadyumna. Real life changed her and now, which watching Serena play is much more compelling than it ever was.
For Team Anna: Five lessons from California about direct democracy
Recall and Reject sounds kick-ass. Direct democracy - who could argue with that? But people power doesn't always work the way we imagine it to. Team Anna should just ask the people of California.
Squonks and other fascinating imaginary beings
Of the all imaginary creatures that Jean Louis Bourges wrote about in The Book of Imaginary beings, the squonk is perhaps the most fascinating of them all.
Look who is falling in love — India and Taliban
By accepting the reintegration of the Taliban into Afghan mainstream politics, India seems to come around to the view that it has to win over the Taliban in order to keep Pakistan from driving India out of Afghanistan.
Love in the time of civil disobedience: Irom Sharmila's prem kahani
A Bollywood-sized romantic melodrama is unfolding in Imphal and it raises an interesting question: Does a human rights activist on a decade-long hunger strike have the right to fall madly, unwisely in love?
Alternate Songs
"Gritty" and "challenging", A Game of Thrones and the long awaited, A Dance with Dragons has finally arrived. Although such fantasy has a lot to offer, but it’s gratifying to have one’s beliefs validated.
Why is Karunanidhi getting a pass in the Rajiv killers' case?
In a country where the hint of dissent can get Arundhati Roy threatened with sedition charges, how do major political parties get away with cozying up to men convicted in the assassination of a former PM?
The new, improved KBC — it’ll work
Sony launched the new season of Kaun Banega Crorepati last night. The new and improved version of the show is likely to get a large viewership for the channel and here's why.
Tagore's vision of Independent India, spiritual not political
Who can deny that unbridled nationalism has been at the root of much of the destruction of the last century? As we celebrate our tryst with destiny, let's listen to Rabindranath Tagore, Independent India’s earliest cultural ambassador.
Midnight's Twins: Faiz's poignant verses on love and war
On Pakistan's independence day we bring you, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistan's national poet, heir to Ghalib and his poems of love and war.
Why was the corporate sector missing from Binayak's protest?
Is it that lending a shoulder to Sen’s fight will indirectly lend credibility to some tribal and development issues that may not exactly be consistent with their corporate interests?
Green fundamentalism will not work, says Jairam Ramesh
In this interview given before he was shifted out of the Environment Ministry, Jairam Ramesh says fundamentalist conservations can win a battle here or there, but not the war.
Poems for Mumbai’s dead
There is no word, nor no grief, deep enough. Instead, poems by more gifted writers, for what solace they may offer.
India, US firms join hands to make HIV war affordable
A big US pharma company has finally taken proactive measures (learning from history no doubt) to license innovative drugs to low-cost drug makers in India so that they reach the people who need them the most.
Fourth of July blues
American politics is just a bit duller without the biting wit of Michael Kelley. Here is a sampling of his most acerbic and hilarious takes on Democrats.
Indian school of bad journalism
Why has outright plagiarism and shoddy sourcing become standard practice among our nation's leading publications?
Attn Anna: Small changes are the first step to big changes
Anna Hazare and Co. would do well to remember that even small victories ought to be celebrated. His expectations are like my expecting to see Mumbai’s traffic problems disappear overnight or see Sania winning Wimbledon this year.
In praise of literary twins: Sayers and Yeats
One of the few personality quirks Yeats and Sayers shared is a failing that plagues most writers: terrible romantic judgement.
The predictablility of prime time news
You were a fan of TV, now you're just plain tired. But you're still a news junkie - here's the perfect game for you.
Where did we lose the joy of Engineering?
The 74 participants at the first Joy of Engineering, Design and Innovation (JED-I) have given India new hopes of producing a generation of engineers who will actually get back to basics and build things - solving real world problems.
Ms Jayalalithaa, get my mother a rickshaw, please
In Chennai, commuting is a nightmare, where even someone reasonably comfortable financially as my mother thinks twice before taking a rickshaw.
I Told You So ki Our English is Bakwaas
China has ranked one notch higher than India in English proficiency in a worldwide study conducted by EF Education First, an English-teaching company.