Larger than life

Sheila Dikshit shaped Delhi and people’s lives in significant ways. Her absence is as powerful as was her presence This is not an obituary of Sheila Dikshit, former chief minister of Delhi for 15 years, who died last month. It’s a story of a journalist’s first meaningful interaction with a powerful politician. It was a […]

Court mulling medical use of cannabis

Bangalore-based NGO The Great Legalisation Movement is challenging the criminalisation and prohibition of cannabis (bhang) use in India. Its petition in the Delhi High Court specifically challenges the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985, as well as the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Rules, 1985, that restrict and […]

Truly the milk of human kindness

What happens if a mother is unable to feed her baby with her own milk, or cannot produce enough? A milk bank fills the gap Three years ago, Fortis La Femme, Delhi’s specialised hospital for women and newborns entered into a collaboration with the Breast Milk Foundation (BMF), a non-profit, to set up the first […]

CHEF OF THE WEEK

Chef Chanchal Datta is quietly winning the hearts of his guests with his remarkable talent, gentleness and smile. Talking about his journey so far, he says, “My culinary career officially began after I completed my education from the Culinary Institute of India in West Bengal. I also accomplished special training with Certified Master Chef Mario […]

Castle hustle

Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to be wowed by both the décor and the menu Spread across 18,000 sq feet over three floors with a sprawling terrace, Sutra – The Gastropub, is a new entrant in Sector 38, Noida which has already become a popular hangout and an ideal party place. It […]

In Europe without papers

How I became an illegal immigrant in Europe for one week I travel every year for a month to Europe to visit people instead of places. This year was special for many reasons, one of them was that for a week I was an ‘illegal immigrant.’ It was not a deliberate act. I took an […]

Honey, I shrunk the bookstore

Brick-and-mortar bookstores are surviving but the space allotted to books is shrinking as cafes within their premises attract more footfall. Also, they tend to do better in malls than in older markets Anyone familiar with the iconic Full Circle book store in Khan Market would be taken aback on stepping into the redesigned store. Café […]

The rain in the main is going down the drain

Rainwater harvesting is the only hope for Delhi to avert the major crisis predicted by NITI Aayog – and for this, every household’s contribution counts It rained about 199.2 mm from 1 to 30 July in the Capital city this year (around 1% less than the 30-year average of 201.1 mm), but was it collected […]