THE LOUNGE | TURN OF THE PAGE ‘Move aside Jhumpa Lahiri, Ms. Chung is here. Or is she?’ wonders Gauri Trivedi in this book review of Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung. Rich in descriptions about Korean culture, the book however misses one key aspect Gauri considers vital to books about the life of immigrants. Read on to find out more.
THE LOUNGE | INNER JOURNEY In his column on spirituality, Viswanathan Subramanian has thus far discussed ego and how memory or thoughts are the root cause of all troubles in the world, particularly human relationships. He has also raised several crucial questions such as ‘Are you the world?’ and ‘Does the world really exist?’ discussing them in the context of Ulladhu Narpadhu (Forty Verses of Reality) by Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharishi. Continuing with the series, the next step is to comprehend what is true knowledge. Read on.
Dear Reader,
We have a very interesting theme that we have explored this month—’Life Online’. Life today is unimaginable without the internet and the way it has permeated our day-to-day life is something we would have never thought of even 15 to 20 years back. Yet, the internet is not without its disadvantages. Our team this time has attempted to analyse this very quality of the internet—of having two sides. We have fiction, non-fiction, poetry and photography as well as two special features—one featuring three authors who began as bloggers a few years back and another featuring two people who have chosen internet as the medium to voice their ideas of activism. We do hope that you really enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Click here to read the issue on our e-reader, ISSUU.
WRITERS OF THE MONTH One of the biggest developments that the internet unleashed was the arrival of blogs a few years back, which grew to become great forums for showcasing talent, having discussions, exchanging ideas, making new friends and most importantly, finding an audience in a world where becoming a published author for an aspiring writer was still a formidable task. Anupama Krishnakumar speaks to Parul Sharma, author of ‘Bringing up Vasu : That First Year’ and ‘By the Water Cooler’, Judy Balan, author of ‘Two Fates : The Story of My Divorce’ and Sagarika Chakraborty, author of ‘A Calendar Too Crowded’ – all of whom began as bloggers a few years back before they became published authors. Parul, Judy and Sagarika talk about their days as bloggers, the roles that their blogs played in their writerly journey and of course their books, among a host of other blog-related things.
SOCIAL LENS The internet not just revolutionised our lives, it brought revolution to our doorsteps. How has activism benefitted from the internet, and what constitutes online activism? Is it effective at all? Vani Viswanathan speaks to two online activists, Kamayani Bali Mahabal of ‘Kractivism’ and Archismita Choudhury of ‘Being Feminist,’ in search for some answers.
A man and a woman meet online through a language learning group and an interesting online relationship blossoms between the two, until one day when the lady, Kay, vanishes suddenly from the web and his world as well. Vishnu Prasad captures the essence of online relationships through an interesting short story.
The internet has pervaded our lives like never before and as things stand, today, it is unimaginable for an urbanite to live a day without the internet. Ironically, though, the internet has made tough things simpler and simple things tougher, points out Gauri Trivedi.
Two close childhood friends unite after years, thanks to the internet. Dhanya M writes a poem that reminisces the friendship.
