Culture Archives - Page 4 of 5

Eat, Pray, Repeat: The Monotony of Eid

Every Eid begins with Amma waking you up early to help her in the kitchen. Abba refuses to give you Eidi as you are an “independent adult”. The rest of the day is spent watching Eid transmissions on TV and eating mutton pilaf, instead of the chicken biryani you asked Amma to prepare.

Fizza A. April 14, 2016

Culture

’Tis the Season to Be Jolly: How Christmas Carols Helped Me Rediscover My Lost Holiday Spirit

In the past few years, I’ve tried to maintain an indifference towards religious festivities, but growing up in a Catholic household, it’s impossible to escape Christmas in December. And Christmas carols are the month’s designated soundtrack.

Mavis D'Silva April 11, 2016

Culture

My Favourite Part of Durga Puja? Remembering the Pujos of My Childhood

Growing up, Durga Pujo was all about garnering a shot of freedom, of carefree behaviour, every single year. But adulting compromises the novelty of Pujo. Now, as an adult, reminiscing about the Pujo of my childhood is possibly my favourite Pujo activity.

Runa Mukherjee April 10, 2016

Culture

Parsi Diary: Moving to a Baug is a Lot Like Moving to a New City

Unlike most Parsis in Mumbai, I’ve not had a “colony childhood” – I haven’t been brought up in a baug. After moving to Dadar Parsi Colony after marriage, I feel like quite the outsider. I sometimes need Google Maps to navigate through the many by-lanes and more people recognise my husband’s pet than me.

Huzan Tata April 10, 2016

Culture

Are Neighbourhood Libraries Just Bait For Nostalgia?

In the age of e-books, the purpose of a library, whose datedness once gave a neighbourhood character, is probably only to invoke nostalgia. We feel sad when our neighbourhood libraries die, but we do little to ensure they survive.

Poulomi Das April 10, 2016

Culture

How RK Narayan’s Malgudi Days Helped Me Understand My Grandfather

Malgudi might have been a made-up Tamil town of the 1940s, supposedly located near colonial Madras. But its realism came from slice-of-life tales about a community that, however far removed from me in space and time, felt like home.

Kahini Iyer April 7, 2016

Culture

#InMyFeelings, Kiki Challenge Ek Dhokha Hai. Here’s Why

Oh, the success you can achieve by tapping into people’s need to be validated on social media! This is the reason urban and rural Indians alike have taken to the Kiki Challenge faster than Ganesh Gaitonde took to Cuckoo.

Jackie Thakkar April 3, 2016

Culture

“Staff Hai!” The Fast and the Furious: Dilli Se Hoon Behn**** Edition

The introduction of private buses in Delhi in the early ’90s introduced a new phrase in our lexicon – “staff hai”. This elegant form of goondagiri ensured that you didn’t buy a ticket for a ride. To my eternal shame and regret, the kids in my school could never pull it off – until a gutsy senior took matters into his own hands.

Anurag Bakhshi March 29, 2016

Culture

Corporate Influencers: The new monks in town

Corporate influencers are moved by garden-variety philosophy and spout vague quotes at the drop of a hat. Usually, none of their rhetoric means anything, but it’s a sacred quality – to say more than you do.

Neerja Deodhar March 28, 2016

Culture

Elephant Gods, Flying Insects, and Crabby Crabs: A Ganpati Visarjan Horror Story

I’ve been jostled in the crowd, groped by a stranger, covered in cheap gulaal, and sacrificed at the altar of the DJ wale babu. But no trauma compares to the ordeal of attempting visarjan from the deck of a ferry in the middle of a downpour.

Nihal Bambulkar March 26, 2016