Once upon a City

Thank you for the training  Loss sharpens gratitude. The passing of Pritish Nandy takes me – and the family of colleagues under his editorship of The Illustrated Weekly of India – back to the 1980s. An unforgettable…

Loss of the legends I last wrote here about the loss of Pritish Nandy, an editor guiding many through the 1980s when we cut our teeth in journalism. News of his death came on the…

Black horses and red tablecloths The vibrant Parsi presence in Kala Ghoda, current haunt of the swish set, confirms the community bent for culture and philanthropy. This lovely heritage quarter has long reigned as south…

Fair play As the city prepares to welcome the latest festive week, following a four centuries-old tradition, suburbanites hold fond childhood memories of the Bandra Fair’s annual week of worship and revelry. Lasting eight days,…

Why bitter can’t be better As another new year soon dawns for the Parsis, it’s time to ponder: Why have Gujarati plays that don’t sugarcoat the pill been nixed by Navroze naatak audiences? Drama was the…

Remembering the Dragon We are halfway through the Year of the Dragon, as the Chinese calendar designates 2024. The Orient, of course, has for long immortalised this four-legged, winged serpentine character in its storehouse of legend…

Ice Ice baby In these unbearable days of blistering heat, here’s literally a little slice of cool history to soothe the scorch. A beacon signalling a legacy of trust in the business world is Blue…

Mango mazaa from Mazagon As a May summer is always the perfect season and reason to make us mango-mad, here’s a deliciously different take on everyone’s favourite fruit. It came to me while interviewing Captain…

Salute to the real sloganeers  As the countdown to election day draws close, we pause to think how sloganeering has changed over the decades. Far from aggressive and self-serving, the brand of politics which patriots…