Does anyone else do this too?   You’re on the train or bus to work and you’re reading a book, and then you start scrolling through the albums and playlists on your MP3 player, sommelier-like, trying to find the perfect musical accompaniment? For Melanie Abrams’ sometimes very steamy Playing, I chose an amorous  playlist of […]

Part of my Friday night  was spent dashing between  two PEN World Voices panels.   First, in the old B. Altman department store, now part of CUNY, there was the Sex in Literature panel.   After that, Rushdie. Had to depart before the Q&A ended to zip up to the 92nd Street Y to try […]

Seen around the city: Who says shopping can’t lead to enlightenment? While ladies are buying bangles, husbands can rest: Bombay and Hollywood, closer and closer always: Hungry Rajasthani camel on Fifth Avenue:

After sliding the Welcome DVD into the player the other night, before the movie started rolling, this video appeared. It’s a spot against human trafficking, and after a few fragments of vignettes pass by, we hear John Abraham, then Preity Zinta, and finally Amitabh Bachchan, all  speaking out against it. What I found rather jarring, […]

 Look at that lush cover.   Playing, indeed. Today was the official release date of  Melanie Abrams’ first novel. When you read about it in coming days and weeks (my review too, soon), you will likely hear a lot about the S&M in the relationship between Josie, the American grad student, and Devesh, the older […]

Rajni, Kamala and Maddy have all joined forces  on a one-day hunger strike.   They’re  doing it to protest  the attacks in Bangalore on cinemas showing Tamil films by people angered over the Hogenakkal water scuffle.   More here.