Feeling Zoomed Out? – Advice for the fatigued
Do you remember when a videoconference was an infrequent occurrence - something special that you looked forward to? Whilst being locked down, video-calling gave us a way to see each other, even when we couldn't be with each other. The novelty wears thin My first few months of the pandemic were filled with virtual business meetings, virtual learning, virtual happy hour, and...
Lockdown Diaries: Senior journalist Senthil Chengalvarayan shares a Chicken Badun recipe to impress your wife
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world in massive ways. Pollution has dropped, community spirit is up, and the importance of general hygiene has been given the prominence it rightly deserves. An interesting trend that's popped up is that a lot of men, particularly in cultures where it's traditionally the woman's role to cook, have taken up cooking. They are...
Lockdown Diaries: The hope that makes us go on and on….dancing
We celebrated Mother’s Day last weekend. It was just another day in these times of Coronavirus-pandemic-related lockdown existence. My day to day routine at home revolves around balancing home, office, and the kids. It is quite a juggle, but not quite different from what most other mothers all across the world go through every day. Many of these mothers...
Lockdown Diaries: Saurav Dutt, author of ‘Dear Mr Bachchan’ talks about the joys of lockdown creativity
Now is the time to take the magic of words, music, art, and creativity and to allow them to inspire, comfort and empower you during the mental tests of Lockdown. There is joy in finding magic and solace in the written word, and the most testing of times empowers one to find enchantment among sentences, to flesh out the fabric of...
Lockdown Diaries: story of the peas egg bhurji and tawa paratha, scrambled up in ten minutes
For a Guju like me, the ultimate "comfort food" is DBRS (daal-bhaat-rotli-shaak or daal, chawal, roti, sabji, or lentils, rice, Indian bread and veggies for the uninitiated). But if there is one more food item which provides the ultimate warmth of home cooked food and that long lingering ghar-ka-khana taste (home-style taste) on your taste buds, that is Vimla Aunty's...
Flowers – an environmental poem
I haven’t been able to make much music recently. Processing the news around us has been far from easy. So here’s a different kind of offering, with words and paint, this one is called — Flowers. It rained last night, From a monsoon sky, Soaked my soil, Burrowed its way Deep into my heart, Until I was swollen... Dark earth, Bubbled bright, And it hurt To be brimming with...
Lockdown Diaries: The Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe remember VE day in London
The Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) commemorated the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day or VE Day in London, by following the national two minute silence at 11am on 8 May. At 11.15am, the resident priest at the Zoroastrian Centre, Ervad Yazad T Bhadha commenced reciting the Stum-no kardo in front of the fire in the Setayash Gah,...
Tales from the lockdown
From the minds of Samar and Ashish Hingorani come a collection of stories that follow three characters adapting to the new "normal" in these days of coronavirus. The illustrations are by Lakshmi Hingorani. Enjoy. NOTE: the controls to move back and forth through the pages are at the bottom of each page.
Kumartuli saga 2020: the hands that shape the Gods
The word ‘unprecedented times’ perhaps has found a new definition, since the Coronavirus pandemic hit different parts of the world since December last year. Among all the turmoil caused, the pandemic has changed the Durga Puja festival, the biggest celebrations for Hindu Bengalis around the world, where they gather for five days to seek the powerful matriarchal blessings of...
Lockdown Diaries: Showing resilience in coping with Covid during the grey years
India has 110 million elderly, projected to become 177 million by 2025. Of this West Bengal has 750,000 senior citizens and Kolkata itself records 550,000 of them. In a recent research study the Calcutta Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (CMIG), Regional Resource and Training Centre on Ageing, conducted individual case studies to explore how senior citizens were coping during the...
