Compiled by Aradhna Wal
An artwork by Surendran Nair
Yamini Telkar on Art
I would recommend the works of Surendran Nair, a preeminent contemporary Indian artist. His works are witty, sarcastic yet strongly appealing. Though his titles hark back to classical Greek mythology, his paintings explore the individual and the society in India. They are strongly rooted in, and flavoured by, local culture. The beauty of his work, however, lies in his renegotiation with the Indian imagery. His canvas always surprises the viewer and the critic by telling an old story in a brand new way.
Telkar is the curator of the Delhi Art Gallery
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Jaishree Misra on Books
One Day by David Nicholls would have been instantly branded ‘chick-lit’, had it been written by a, er, chick. But Nicholls presents a potted social history of Britain from the late ’80s onwards. Em and Dex meet on the last day of university before going their separate ways. The reader watches the progress of their lives on the 15th of July for the next 20 years.
Nicholls presents a potted social history of Britain from the late ’80s onwards
Misra is the author of Ancient Promises and Rani
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Adil Manuel on Music
People worship rock legends, and rock legends worship Allan Holdsworth. The English guitarist and composer sets the trend for other musicians, but he himself can never be copied, especially on stage. He is 65 and the older he gets the crazier his music becomes. I’d recommend easier songs like Sand and Funnels, which I myself would like to play someday.
Manuel is a Delhi-based musician with Adil and Vasundhara
Trendsetter
English guitarist and composer Allan Holdsworth
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A still from Dancer in the Dark
Aparna Sanyal on Film
I remember coaxing my self-confessed Hindi film buff father to watch Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark years ago. Telling him about von Trier and the Dogme movement wouldn’t have worked. He was also unlikely to be moved by the fact that it won the Palme d’Or in 2000. And so I told him how it was a melodramatic story of a mother’s love for her child, and her fight against all odds to save her son from a ‘dark’ fate. That it had songs. Dances too! I’m not sure von Trier would have been flattered, but he did end up having an atypical viewer that day!
Sanyal is a filmmaker based in Delhi
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Rachana Desai on Food
Goa has many places to dine, but my favourite is Anand Lunch Home. It is a shack-like restaurant sitting in the middle of some green fields near Anjuna and Vagator beaches. They serve Hindu coastal cuisine, which is very different from the Christian Goan food that we are more familiar with. I had a fish thali, which has a few masala-filled clams, a piece of fried fish, a bowl of coconut fish curry, some vegetables and rice. You could also opt for rawa fried prawns or rawa fried king fish. You don’t need anything else after that. Truly local, unspoilt and fresh, you won’t find any tourists here.
Desai is the partner and Coo of Cafe Zaffiro, New Delhi
