The walled city oozes so much spiritual history, every gali could turn into a trail. Here are four roads less travelled ♦ Older Delhi The pre-Shahjahanabad tour. The walled city hides several sacred sites that predate Shahjahan’s imperial city. Four major ones are relatively close together and can be …
Nayantara Sahgal ♦ “Politicians, whatever their political colour, and whatever they piously said, got fat from office. They would never banish the contrasts, never in ten thousand years build an equal society. How could they, when they were products of the rot themselves, of caste, of vested interests and stinking old ideas? It would take the …
Admen, artists, ambassadors ♦ In the ongoing search to furnish India’s contemporary art scene with international emissaries, it is appropriate that two most prolific ambassadors have a background emblematic of the country’s most shining industry: advertising and design. Anything but appropriate, however, is the impish name of the fake brand that artist/designer duo Sumir Tagra …
Capital Communities: Delhi’s Gujaratis aren’t all business. ♦ Gujaratis have a long history in Delhi, going back hundreds of years when Gujarati and Marwari traders stayed in the walled city, in the areas of Chandni Chowk and the Clock Market. With a monopoly on textiles and chemicals in Rang Bazaar, Gujaratis earned a reputation for …
Yusuf Arakkal at Art Alive. ♦ There’s something very theatrical about Yusuf Arakkal’s “The Street” series. Culled from candid photographs that Arakkal took of people in London, Lisbon, Singapore and elsewhere, and transferred via silkscreen to canvas before painting over them, the works round up a cast of everyday characters, each one unaware that he …
Vasudha Thozhur’s intriguing works weave together personal loss and national tragedy. ♦ Vasudha Thozhur has always been interested in collating disparate elements in her work. She paints panels that draw together current events, memory, observations and symbols to create combinations that are sometimes startling and always intriguing. Hence, it is appropriate that this exhibition brings …
Sanjib Singha at Shridharani Gallery. ♦ The previous shows of Sanjib Singha, a Government Art College, Kolkata graduate, were titled Elements l and Elements II. In his seventh solo show, Notes Struck by the Stars, Singha’s abstract paintings turn away from evoking earth, wind and fire and address music instead. “I listen to Sufi music …
Representing Civil Lines. ♦ The Embassy Restaurant in Connaught Place has been around for ages. Recently opened in Civil Lines, the new Embassy Restaurant is a slightly jazzed up but still old-world version of the CP branch. Serving only Indian food, unlike its multi-cuisine elder sibling, the restaurant has been done up in colonial club …
Khan Market’s sweet spot for comfort food. ♦ With two branches in Khan Market, The Big Chill is Delhi’s favourite comfort food hang-out for expats, teeny-boppers and college students alike. It’s been around for six years and is still popular. On Saturday nights, the crowd waiting to get in to the establishment, which doesn’t take …
Group Show at the Visual Arts Gallery. ♦ This story was originally published in Time Out Delhi.