Manula Narayan is National Books Editor at Hindustan Times. She writes on literature and popular culture.
Articles by Manjula Narayan
Shorts fired: A Wknd interview with author Anita Desai
At 88, her writing is sharper, even if the books are slimmer. Rosarita, her first in over a decade, is about a daughter who is learning about her mother’s past.
Updated on Jul 13, 2024 04:42 PM IST
Motorcycle diaries: On riding in the Garo Hills
The Wangala dance, incredible vernacular architecture, and an old local religion... There’s much to appreciate in this lush stretch of the eastern Himalayas
Published on Apr 11, 2024 09:26 PM IST
Manjula Narayan picks her favourite reads of 2023
A memoir that spotlights the lives of tawaifs and dancing girls in 1980s India and a volume on the continuing vitality of the ancient Indian perfume trade and the skilled craftsmen at the centre of it
Updated on Dec 29, 2023 05:39 PM IST
Jodhpur RIFF: Music to soothe a savage breast
From Bade Ghazi Khan Manganiyar to Vikku Vinayakram, Suonna d’Ajere and Smita Bellur; great music and interesting conversations with performers made this year’s JodhpurRIFF a superb experience
Updated on Nov 10, 2023 03:43 PM IST
Report: Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival 2023
The first edition of SALF focussed on a range of subjects including climate change, wildlife conservation and biodiversity, crime fiction and mental health
Updated on May 20, 2023 12:29 AM IST
Manjula Narayan picks her favourite reads of 2022
Beautifully produced and encyclopaedic, 20th Century Indian Art by Partha Mitter, Parul Dave Mukherji and Rakhee Balaram gives you an idea of the many artistic impulses that have coursed through the subcontinent from the beginning of the last century to the contemporary period
Published on Dec 30, 2022 04:34 PM IST
Manjula Narayan, Editor, Books, picks her favourite reads of 2021
Martyn Rix’s work of great erudition that is also a visual treat takes you into the world of East India Company surgeons, who were enthusiastic botanists, and the Indian artists who painted the plants they collected
Published on Dec 25, 2021 02:49 AM IST
Cooking by the numbers: At lunch with Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee
Over an exclusive meal prepared by the economist, Manjula Narayan discusses his new cookbook, as well as the Gita, poverty, the roles of food, and his unusually precise systems of measurement.
Updated on Nov 14, 2021 05:35 PM IST
Independence Day special: Five classics about India to read right now
As India enters its 75th year of Independence, Manjula Narayan puts together a list of works to read for insight and perspective on the making of a nation.
Updated on Aug 13, 2021 06:45 PM IST
Review: Languages of Truth by Salman Rushdie
From Hans Christian Andersen and Shakespeare to hijras and Hitchens, from Amrita Sher-Gill, Osama Bin Laden, Heraclitus and Pythagoras to political courage, Carrie Fisher and Covid, the author’s new collection of essays shows off the variety of his interests and his formidable intellect
Updated on Jun 12, 2021 05:11 PM IST
Review: Stories I Must Tell by Kabir Bedi
Thoughtful, brave, full of insights about life, occasionally naïve, and utterly honest, Kabir Bedi’s memoir is unlike anything you would expect from a Bollywood personality. But then Bedi, who has worked in Hollywood and continues to be wildly famous in Italy, has always been different from the other stars of his generation
Published on May 14, 2021 10:45 PM IST
How Midnight’s Children shaped Indian writing in English
In Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie’s Sinai used language in wonderful and, to the Indian, in familiar ways. At last, the wretched alien language we had struggled with in deference to old Macaulay was finally our own
Updated on Apr 14, 2021 07:13 AM IST
Interview: Bill Gates on his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
Electricity, transport, food, buildings and manufacturing are the biggest areas of CO2 emissions. All of them will have to be tackled to combat climate change. In a video interview, Bill Gates spoke about the need for innovation, to shift to new ways of doing things, and about his new book that provides a plan to bring emissions down to zero by the year 2050
Published on Feb 19, 2021 06:33 PM IST
India must set example in climate crisis fight: Bill Gates
“When most people think about climate, they think about making electricity and about passenger cars mostly. They aren’t aware that there are many other sources of CO2 emissions. Electricity, transport, food, buildings and manufacturing are the biggest areas of emissions,” Gates said.
Updated on Feb 16, 2021 02:42 AM IST
Essay: The Story of Paatallok and Tarun Tejpal
An examination of why the hit show has not acknowledged its source material
Updated on May 21, 2020 11:44 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Lockdown Diaries: Wise words in a fraught time by Manjula Narayan
The 29 authors, who contributed to Lockdown Diaries, brought fresh perspectives to a shared experience
Updated on Apr 28, 2020 08:25 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Interview: Soha Ali Khan on her new weekly podcast for kids
In an email interview, Soha Ali Khan talks about her new weekly podcast, India’s first celebrity audio book show for kids, which features her reading stories for children by Indian authors
Updated on Feb 28, 2020 07:51 PM IST
Review: Low by Jeet Thayil
Grief, guilt, Mumbai, and Donald Trump loom over Jeet Thayil’s new novel
Published on Feb 14, 2020 07:43 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Litfesting in the lap of the Himalayas
The IME Nepal Literature Festival, which hosted the $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature this year, featured interesting sessions that were well attended
Updated on Jan 03, 2020 07:58 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Interview: Fatima Bhutto on her new book, New Kings of the World
Fatima Bhutto’s new book looks at the global appeal of eastern pop culture. In an email interview she talks about why everyone, from the Germans to the Peruvians, is enamoured by Bollywood, K-pop and Turkish Dizi
Updated on Oct 04, 2019 06:54 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Magic in the mountains: A look back at the stimulating sessions of the Mountain Echoes Festival 2019
Stimulating sessions and interesting conversations were part of the 10th edition of the Mountain Echoes festival in Thimphu, Bhutan.
Updated on Sep 14, 2019 01:02 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Review: Oh! Those Parsis by Berjis Desai
Berjis Desai’s book that lists the A to Z of the Parsi way of life shows you why the community makes other Indians both glad and mad.
Updated on Sep 07, 2019 12:39 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Interview: Subhashini Chandramani on The Garden Art Journal
The Garden Art Journal, which features wonderfully minimalist images that incorporate petals, seeds and leaves, intends to spur creativity in those who maintain journals. Here, Chandramani, @neelavanam on Twitter and Instagram, talks about the journal, about her form of Garden Art, and her own creative process
Updated on Aug 21, 2019 09:58 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Review: Looking for Miss Sargam by Shubha Mudgal
Shubha Mudgal’s short fiction teems with authentic characters and situations peculiar to the world of the Hindustani classical performer
Updated on Aug 17, 2019 10:17 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Interview: Poomani, author of Heat
Poomani’s Vekkai is one of the great Tamil novels of the 20th century. Heat, the English translation of this extraordinary work has just been released. In a telephonic conversation facilitated by translator N Kalyan Raman, the author spoke about the book and its protagonist, the 15-year-old Chidambaram who murders a landlord to avenge the death of his elder brother
Updated on May 25, 2019 10:11 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Review: China at its Limits by Matthias Messmer and Hsin-Mei Chuang
A book that combines history, photography, culture and travel writing, reportage, and political analysis to present a picture of China and the challenges to its rise
Published on Apr 19, 2019 09:26 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Review: The Verdict by Prannoy Roy and Dorab R Sopariwala
Rich in data backed by lucid explanatory text, The Verdict by Prannoy Roy and Dorab R Sopariwala decodes India’s elections and provides some pointers on who could win the Lok Sabha polls in 2019
Updated on Mar 22, 2019 08:32 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
JLF2019; At the Mahakumbh of literature
As always, this year’s Jaipur Literature Festival was where Established India came to rub shoulders with Nobel laureates, Pulitzer prize winners and an adoring reading public
Published on Feb 01, 2019 08:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Review: Jiya Jale; Gulzar in conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir
An excellent book that treats the Hindi film song with the seriousness and respect it deserves
Updated on Dec 15, 2018 10:57 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan
Review: To Die in Benares by K Madavane
A short story collection that contemplates the inevitable with an unwavering gaze
Updated on Dec 07, 2018 08:51 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Manjula Narayan