Recently Amy Chua is in the news. Her book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” has raised a storm in American households. Although many may not have read her book, but the excerpt published by Wall Street Journal was enough to enrage many parents who challenged Amy in all forms possible.  To us, Indian parents, Ms. Chua’s parenting style is nothing new at all. Rather the western parenting style of protecting the delicate and fragile self-esteem of our children seems more foreign to us. We remember how we trembled to bring in our report cards that had less than 80% scores in front of our parents (well during our times 80% was a great score – letter marks, as we used to say). But after we came to this country, we learned that we should never exhibit our dissatisfaction when our child fails to deliver their best.   We should keep encouraging them, tell them that they are doing great, even when their grades keep slacking. Positive reinforcement, we learned, was the key to success. Continue reading →

The other day, while rearranging the books in my tiny library, I chanced upon a tiny book titled “Thakur Barir Ranna” (Foods from the Tagore Kitchen) written by Purnima Tagore (daughter of Pramatha Choudhury and Nalini Devi). This year being the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, anything related to Tagore generates special interest. Hence, after a long time, I started leafing through the book and was pleasantly surprised by the variety of cuisine and recipes listed in the book. In the preface, the author says that these recipes are collected from a recipe book handed down to her by her aunt, Indira Devi Choudhurani. Indira Devi, the favorite niece of Rabindranath Tagore, had never entered a kitchen or cooked on a regular basis. But whenever she liked a dish, she would make it a point to collect the detailed recipe from the cook and note it down in her book. Purnima Tagore has also included some of her own recipes in the book. Hence, it is not that all the recipes were from Jorsanko Thakurbari, but of course they are from the Tagore kitchens in general. Continue reading →

I often have this dilemma, is it okay to criticize? Often people ask me, how did I like a book, or a play, or a movie – and I find it very difficult to answer. First of all, if it is my opinion they are asking for, I can possibly try to answer quite diplomatically. My answer would also depend on who is asking me, and about what my opinion is sought for. But expressing an opinion and making a criticism of some work are two entirely different ball games. Opinions are personal, but criticism should be based on a solid foundation of theoretical and practical understanding of the craft. We often tend to confuse between the two and sometimes give too much weight to personal opinions as valued commentary of a piece of artistic or literary work. Continue reading →

Whenever I go to Kolkata, I make it a point to see as many theaters as possible within the short breaks that I can manage from the hectic schedule. This summer too I had the opportunity of watching two plays in Kolkata, “Kaachher Manush” by Gandhar and “Srinwantu Comrades” by Nandipat.

“Kaachher Manush” is based on a Marathi play by Dr. Sirish Athwale (translated by Kamal Sanyal) and directed by Gautam Haldar. The play tells the story about how two people from different social backgrounds can come close together through a metaphoric process of healing.  Dadaseheb (a Marathi Brahmin played by Debshankar Haldar) is suffering from a paralysis of his right side resulting from a head injury and needs physiotherapy and occupational therapy to recover. Savitribai, a senior dalit lady (performed by Bijoy Lakshmi Burman), has been appointed as a nurse to provide him with his daily therapy and help him during the day with his household chores. Continue reading →

Recently I had the opportunity to watch the play “Broken Images” written by Girish Karnad, directed by Alyque Padamsee and performed by the famous film and stage actor Ms. Shabana Azmi.  Girish Karnad is one of the foremost playwrights of modern India, hence any play from him raises expectations.  “Broken Images” is certainly not one of his best plays although it did make its point quite strongly. It tells the story of the confessions of a mediocre Hindi writer who has become an internationally acclaimed English language celebrity author through deceit.  It also tells that the image we often create to impress the outer world gets shattered inside when it is not projected in the light of truth. Continue reading →

by Amitava Sen

My Sales Manager came running to my office. “What’s my Good Name?” he asked urgently. I did not understand his question. Indeed, I liked his name. I did not think it was a bad name and how was I supposed to know whether he had a better name? Honestly I did not care what his name was. Did Shakespeare not write somewhere that a rose smells the same despite the name you call it by? Richard Schwartz, my sales manager explained that there was a call from an Indian company who was interested in our filtration product. Richard was loath to give an incorrect answer and lose the prospect of an order for the product simply because his parents neglected to give him a better name. Suddenly it dawned on me that this man from India was asking for his Subh Naam, which translated, to Good Name. Continue reading →