Bala Subramaniam

The Golden Globe for RRR – a movie I struggled to sit through, and a few thoughts on the craze for International recognition.

A reader’s passion and a reading life in 2022.

I took a short sabbatical from writing in the last couple of weeks to focus on reading and rearranging ( or reorganizing) my ever-growing library – a project I had been postponing for quite some time. My library has swelled in 2022, and this year…

Asha – A beautiful life lived with vision, grit, and dignity.

As Asha’s illness entered a terminal stage in the last few weeks, I was reminded of the opening lines of Susan Sontag’s 1978 essay “Illness as a metaphor”. She wrote: “Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is…

Part three of the essay on Evolution – “Origins” the book, its style, and impact.

Hallie Rubenhold’s book “The five” – a brilliant resurrection of the lives, dignity, and social milieu of the five women who were the victims of Jack, the ripper ( 1888)

Part two of the essay on Evolution – Darwin’s journey – the man, his endeavor, and the book that changed the understanding of life)

Samanth Subramanian’s beautifully crafted book ” This divided Island” on the thirty years of civil war in Srilanka, its origins, and the aftermath.

An essay in three parts on the evolution of species, Darwin’s scientific journey, and the fascinating story behind the fifteen-year hiatus between Darwin’s observation of the principle and the publication of the “Origins”.

The greatness of Rajaraja Cholan a.k.a Ponniyin selvan, Kalki’s epic novel, and Maniratnam’s film adaptation.

Babette’s feast – a book, a movie, a cultural archetype, and a deep meditation on the therapeutic significance of the culinary art

The genius of Hilary Mantel ( 1952 – 2022)

Roger Federer – A magical sportsman hangs his boots.

Queen Elizabeth II – A life lived with grace, dignity, and poise in the service of her constitutional role.

Delhi Crime – Season 2 – a worthy successor to Season one. A police procedural that can stand alongside the best productions in the genre.

Aphasia – the damage to the language centers of the brain, and the beautiful memoir of Diane Ackerman ” One hundred names for love – a stroke, a marriage and the language of healing”

We take our bodies for granted, until an injury, a setback, makes us realize otherwise. This personality, this thing we call our articulate “self” is just the tip of the iceberg, sustained and nourished by an astonishingly intricate, delicately…

The art of David McCullough ( 1933 – 2022) – a splendid historian, a towering intellectual, and a consummate stylist of the language

The rise in domestic violence, and Darlings – a dark comedy based on domestic abuse.

An emotional memorial service to cherish the life and legacy of Vinit.

Last Sunday, a sensitive and beautifully orchestrated memorial service for Vinit Jay Thakkar today was held at the Crowne Plaza hotel next to our new office in Dunwoody, Atlanta. A fitting tribute to a man who has left behind nothing but love and…

Jahnavi’s exuberant Kuchipudi performance, and the joy of meeting family

The word Rasa doesn’t have an equivalent in English. It can be roughly translated as aesthetics, but even so, it doesn’t capture the finely nuanced, reflective, and textured state of being the word Rasa encompasses. Natya Sastra, that wonderful…

Vinit Thakkar – a cheerful spirit and a wonderful human being taken away in his prime.

“A single person is missing for you, and the whole world is empty”. Joan Didion wrote this about her loss in her moving memoir “The year of magical thinking”. Since the afternoon, I have been in a kind of trance, rooted to a spot, unable to speak or…