Manjula Narayan
Manula Narayan is National Books Editor at Hindustan Times. She writes on literature and popular culture.
Articles by Manjula Narayan
Interview: Bill Gates on his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
PUBLISHED ON FEB 19, 2021 06:33 PM IST
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
India must set example in climate crisis fight: Bill Gates
UPDATED ON FEB 16, 2021 02:42 AM IST
“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.
Essay: The Story of Paatallok and Tarun Tejpal
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON MAY 21, 2020 11:44 PM IST
An examination of why the hit show has not acknowledged its source material
Lockdown Diaries: Wise words in a fraught time by Manjula Narayan
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON APR 28, 2020 08:25 AM IST
The 29 authors, who contributed to Lockdown Diaries, brought fresh perspectives to a shared experience
Interview: Soha Ali Khan on her new weekly podcast for kids
UPDATED ON FEB 28, 2020 07:51 PM IST
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
Review: Low by Jeet Thayil
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
PUBLISHED ON FEB 14, 2020 07:43 PM IST
Grief, guilt, Mumbai, and Donald Trump loom over Jeet Thayil’s new novel
Litfesting in the lap of the Himalayas
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON JAN 03, 2020 07:58 PM IST
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
Interview: Fatima Bhutto on her new book, New Kings of the World
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON OCT 04, 2019 06:54 PM IST
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
Magic in the mountains: A look back at the stimulating sessions of the Mountain Echoes Festival 2019
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON SEP 14, 2019 01:02 PM IST
Stimulating sessions and interesting conversations were part of the 10th edition of the Mountain Echoes festival in Thimphu, Bhutan.
Review: Oh! Those Parsis by Berjis Desai
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON SEP 07, 2019 12:39 PM IST
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.
Interview: Subhashini Chandramani on The Garden Art Journal
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON AUG 21, 2019 09:58 PM IST
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
Review: Looking for Miss Sargam by Shubha Mudgal
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON AUG 17, 2019 10:17 AM IST
Shubha Mudgal’s short fiction teems with authentic characters and situations peculiar to the world of the Hindustani classical performer
Interview: Poomani, author of Heat
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON MAY 25, 2019 10:11 AM IST
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
Review: China at its Limits by Matthias Messmer and Hsin-Mei Chuang
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
PUBLISHED ON APR 19, 2019 09:26 PM IST
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
Review: The Verdict by Prannoy Roy and Dorab R Sopariwala
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON MAR 22, 2019 08:32 PM IST
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
JLF2019; At the Mahakumbh of literature
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
PUBLISHED ON FEB 01, 2019 08:07 PM IST
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
Review: Jiya Jale; Gulzar in conversation with Nasreen Munni Kabir
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON DEC 15, 2018 10:57 AM IST
An excellent book that treats the Hindi film song with the seriousness and respect it deserves
Review: To Die in Benares by K Madavane
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON DEC 07, 2018 08:51 PM IST
A short story collection that contemplates the inevitable with an unwavering gaze
Review: The Twice-Born; Life and Death on the Ganges by Aatish Taseer
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON NOV 02, 2018 09:27 PM IST
Though Aatish Taseer’s book appears to be about the Brahmins of Benaras, it is actually a look at the continuing aftershocks of colonialism, about India and Bharat, and about the persistence of caste
Review: The Rabbit & The Squirrel by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON OCT 12, 2018 11:33 PM IST
A story that examines the nature of love, life, friendship and the quest for happiness in a difficult world
Review: India Moving by Chinmay Tumbe
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON SEP 14, 2018 09:05 PM IST
Erudite and thought-provoking, Chinmay Tumbe’s India Moving shows that the ongoing Great Indian Migration Wave is the world’s largest and longest voluntary migration episode in migration history
Review: The Red Cat and Other Stories by Ritesh Uttamchandani
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON AUG 10, 2018 10:52 PM IST
Shot over the last four years on Ritesh Uttamchandani’s iPhone, this photobook features 98 images that reveal Mumbai’s pounding, generous heart
Review: Points of Entry; Encounters at the Origin-Sites of Pakistan by Nadeem Farooq Paracha
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON JUL 21, 2018 02:05 AM IST
A nuanced collection of essays on the history, culture and politics of Pakista
Review: Points of Entry; Encounters at the Origin-sites of Pakistan by Nadeem Farooq Paracha
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON JUL 21, 2018 02:04 AM IST
A nuanced collection of essays on the history, culture and politics of Pakistan
Review: 13 Years; A Naxalite’s Prison Diary by Ramchandra Singh
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON JUL 13, 2018 08:33 PM IST
Ramchandra Singh’s prison diary captures the ideological and physical struggles of a young man of the Naxalbari generation
Review: Infinite Variety; A History of Desire in India by Madhavi Menon
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON JUL 06, 2018 10:27 PM IST
A fascinating look at objects, relations, acts and places and, through them, the history of desire in India
Review: Widows of Vidarbha by Kota Neelima
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON APR 27, 2018 06:30 PM IST
Widows of Vidarbha is a powerful book on the wives of farmers who kill themselves after they lose their crop
Interview: Romila Thapar on her new book, Indian Cultures as Heritage
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON MAR 09, 2018 09:27 PM IST
Romila Thapar’s new book touches on thought-provoking subjects including attitudes to knowledge, the role of women, the context of objects that identify cultures and ideas like social discrimination that shape it. In an email interview, she elaborated on these ideas
Review: How May I Help You by Deepak Singh
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times
UPDATED ON FEB 02, 2018 10:38 PM IST
A book on “an immigrant’s journey from MBA to minimum wage” is insightful and engrossing
Jaipur Literature Festival 2018: The great literary jamboree
By Manjula Narayan | Hindustan Times, Jaipur
UPDATED ON JAN 30, 2018 11:15 AM IST
As with every year, the Jaipur Literature Festival 2018 thrived in the shadow of an impending controversy that thankfully didn’t break.