It's a brand new year!

Here’s hoping we get to use this one…

So, finally, we meet in 2021, having bid goodbye to a rollercoaster of a year called 2020. I don’t know about you, but the first few weeks of the New Year always imbue me with an optimistic mood. There is the sense of new beginnings, a looking forward to fresh possibilities, and the feeling that we have embarked on a brand new adventure.

Of course, some of 2020 will carry over to 2021 as well. Covid ain’t going anywhere any time soon and doctors warn us that we will have to continue wearing masks, washing hands, and socially distancing through this year as well. Sadly, normal service is unlikely to be resumed any time soon.

I know all this at a rational level, and yet, that ‘New Year’ feeling refuses to go away. And here, in no particular order of importance, is what I am looking forward to:

• Getting the Covid vaccine. I don’t know when my turn will finally come, but I am hoping that my comorbidities (never have I been more grateful that I have a few!) will push me up the queue. And the moment my number is called, I will be there, sleeve rolled up in readiness to receive the shot. And I sincerely hope that all of you will do the same – because this vaccine thing only works if all of us get the requisite two doses.  

• Releasing my new book. Ideally, the sequel to Race Course Road should have been out in 2020. But somehow, the idea of bringing a book out in the middle of a pandemic and doing all my promotions on Zoom, didn’t quite appeal to me. So, I postponed sending it off to my publisher on one pretext or another, holding off till some semblance of normality returned. So, the book will now be birthed in a post-vaccine world – and I am looking forward to that with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

• Creating a mask-free extended family bubble. Until now, my pandemic bubble has consisted of just my husband and me. In the last nine months I have never met anyone else without a mask – no, not even members of my own family. But once Covid loosens its grip on us, and after everyone has been tested/vaccinated, we can finally have our Big Fat Indian Family gathering. Zoom calls and video chats are all very well, but there is nothing like the actual warm embrace of family to feel whole again. 

• Going on vacation abroad. Over the last few months, my husband and I have taken a few mini-breaks – but always within driving distance of Delhi. And it’s been great. We rediscovered the magical beauty of the Taj Mahal on a trip to Agra, spending the entire day sitting on our balcony, gazing mesmerized at the ultimate monument to love. We reacquainted ourselves with Rajasthan, making trips to Alwar and Jaipur. And even though we didn’t venture out of our hotels, the change still did us good. But now I am getting itchy feet again. And I am hoping that in a few months time, I will be able to visit some of my favourite haunts abroad as well. London is number one on that list, but if that doesn’t work, I am quite happy to settle for Bangkok or Singapore as well.

• Venturing out to the shops. The one thing Covid did was to introduce me to the pleasures of online shopping. And in the initial days of lockdown, I went a little berserk, ordering everything from Le Creuset cookware to stationary to hair scrunchies on the Internet. But after the initial excitement wore off, I began to miss the experience of going out and shopping in brick and mortar stores. Until now, though, I have resisted the urge to head out to malls or department stores, for fear of tempting fate. But, with a bit of luck, it will be possible to do a spot of retail therapy in 2021. And after a year of being abstemious I can’t wait to indulge myself.

Out with the old

We can’t wait to bid goodbye to 2020; but let's do it with style and care

 

It’s only a matter of days before we can kiss goodbye to 2020. And frankly, the end can’t come soon enough for me – and, I’m sure, for the rest of you as well. 

 

It’s been quite a ride, hasn’t it? We’ve been locked down for months thanks to this dreaded pandemic, we have seen Covid wreak its ravages among our friends and families, and some of us have even contracted the virus ourselves and are still combatting its long-term effects. Of course, life has slowly been limping back to normal and we have all rejoiced at the good news that vaccines for coronavirus will be available to us in a matter of months.

 

So, with a bit of luck, 2021 should be a better year than this one has been. And yet, as we countdown to a New Year, our thoughts inevitably turn to how we can bid goodbye to the one we have just lived through.

 

It’s a tricky one, isn’t it? We can’t really party as we do every year-end, getting tipsy and dancing badly to playlists put together by our friends. And it’s a risky proposition to set off for some scenic destination to bring in the New Year, given that we may well be exposed to the virus in the course of our travels. (It really would be a pity to get Covid now, when the vaccine is just within our reach, just because we fancied a holiday on the beach!)

 

All of that is indisputably true. But despite all that, as a race we are genetically programmed to mark the transition into the New Year with some sort of celebration. So, what would be a Covid-safe way to celebrate?

 

Well, first off, it would be a good idea to stay at home this year. Spend the money you have saved by not heading for an overpriced vacation on a decent bottle (or three) of wine or champagne, order in a nice meal (biryani always hits the spot), put on some nice music, and spend the evening snuggling up to your significant other. (Dressing up is not obligatory, but it’s always nice to make an effort.)

 

To be honest, this is how I spent all my New Year’s Eves even before the pandemic hit. No, we were not always at home – those were the halcyon days when you could travel across the world without a thought – but even if my husband and I were dining in fancy restaurants, it was always a deux. And if you ask me, there’s no better way to ring out the old and ring in the new than a quiet, intimate evening with the person you love most in the world.

 

But if you are more sociable than we are, well then, you can expand your guest list just a tad. If you have a bubble going with some friends and family – and you are sure that they have been observing all the Covid protocols – then you can host a soiree at your place. It’s best if you keep this outdoors to reduce the risk of transmission, and keep the numbers down to the bare minimum. And remember, no kissing anyone other than your partner when the clock counts down to midnight.

 

If the prospect of entertaining at home makes you break out in hives, then opt for a staycation. Most city hotels offer packages for the New Year, and you can put together a small group if you want to celebrate with friends or family. There’s always a fancy dinner, with all the trimmings, on offer. But the best part is waking up the next morning, and ordering a slap-up room service breakfast that you can eat in bed. For me, that is the ultimate luxury!

 

And then, there is always the option of going completely old school and marking the New Year with that old staple: the family picnic. The weather is just right to pack some alu parathas, samosas, pakoras, and a flask of tea and coffee and head out to a scenic park near your location, where you can catch a light snooze in the sunlight after stuffing your face.

 

But however you choose to celebrate, here’s wishing all of you a Happy New Year. (Well, it certainly can’t be any worse than this one!).

 

Take a shot!

Now that the Covid vaccine is here, it’s time to plan for a post-pandemic reality

Finally, after a year of heartache and heartbreak, there is something to cheer about. The Covid 19 vaccine is ready and about to hit the market all across the world. Actually, make that vaccines – in the plural – because there are at least three to four candidates that have given good outcomes in clinical trials. In India, we are pinning our hopes on the Oxford Astro-Zeneca vaccine though there is an indigenous vaccine in the works as well.

So, in another month or so, we can expect the vaccination process to begin for earnest in India. There will be two jabs administered in an interval of a couple of weeks, and it will then take a few weeks for immunity to be established – and with a bit of luck that should last for at least a year.

As someone with quite a few co-morbidities (don’t ask!) I am hoping that I will manage to get vaccinated sooner rather than later. And in anticipation of that, I am already making plans for a post-immunisation life. Here’s just a taste of what I am so looking forward to.

•       It’s now been nine months and counting since I last saw my sister, even though we both live in the same city. But given that she is in a high-risk category, I desisted from visiting her for fear that she might get infected. Once we are both vaccinated though, it will be time for all the jhappis and pappis that we have been storing up to deploy during better days.

•       Going for a walk without a mask. Yes, I know it will be months before we get to a place where enough people have been immunized that it is safe to take off your mask in public. But that day will surely dawn, and I can wait to celebrate with a stroll down Lodi Gardens or my current new favourite, Sunder Nursery.

•       Getting my hair coloured and highlighted at a salon is next on my to-do list. Many of my braver friends have already ventured forth to visit their hairdressers. But, coward that I am, I have been colouring my hair myself with a home dye kit. And though I have got better at it over the past few months, I still get a pang when I see pictures of mine from the pre-Covid era and see how much better my hair looked when professionals were in charge. And I simply can’t wait to look like that again.

•       I’ve never been a great one for manicures and pedicures – all that waiting around for paint to dry bores me senseless – but I am an absolute sucker for massages. In my view, there is nothing more luxurious that lying in a darkened room, with soft music playing, while your aches and pains are magicked away by the soft but firm touch of a stranger. As indulgences go, there is no beating this one. And when spas finally cease to be no-go areas, I will be first in line for some serious pampering.

•       Never in a million years did I think it was possible that I would actually miss airports, but guess what, Covid has done the impossible. These days I actually find myself dreaming of checking in for a flight, roaming aimlessly through the duty-free area, picking up the odd perfume or lipstick, and then meandering on to the plane.

•       Such is my nostalgia for air travel that even the thought of those disgusting airline meals can’t quite put me off. Instead I fantasize about quaffing endless glasses of champagne as I watch rubbishy movies on the inflight entertainment system, dozing off in front of the screen only to land in an entirely new destination, which is just crying out to be explored within an inch of its life.

•       And last, but certainly not the least, there is the street food that I have missed so insanely over the past few months. The moment my vaccine kicks in, I am off to my neighbourhood chaat place, standing in line with strangers to eat golgappas and gorge on some aloo tikkis or even a piping hot plate of channa bhaturas. I will probably end up catching something other than Covid, but it will be totally worth it.

Royal Progress

The latest season of The Crown is more fiction than fact; but great fun nonetheless

It’s more than a little disconcerting when a ‘period drama’ is about events that you remember all too clearly because you lived through them. Not only does it make you wonder how old you have become, if you are anything like me, you spend your entire time shouting at the TV screen, “No, no, no! That’s not how it happened at all!”

So, yes, that’s how I watched season four of The Crown, the Netflix series based loosely – and on the evidence of the latest episodes, very loosely indeed – on the life and times of Queen Elizabeth II and her family. And now that I have finished bingeing on the series, here are some of my entirely random thoughts and observations.

•       This season of the show owes more to writer Peter Morgan’s imagination than it does to history. Even in the earlier series, Morgan had played fast and loose with facts (Prince Philip was never implicated in the Profumo affair; and nor did he have an affair with a ballerina) but the plot remained true to essential facts. That is not
true of season four at all. Instead, Morgan cheerfully makes things up to move the plot forward, which has the effect of making even the events that are rooted in reality seem fictitious.

•       The nuanced portrayal of the royals in the previous seasons has given way to an almost caricature-like quality. The Queen is depicted as a cold, awkward woman, so distant from her children that she asks her courtiers to prepare notes on each child’s hobbies and interests before she meets them so that she is not ‘unprepared’. The sensitive Prince Charles of season three is nowhere to be found; instead the heir of the throne is a self-pitying figure consumed with jealousy of his young wife. Princess Margaret is reduced to a boorish presence with a complete lack of charm and grace. Suffice to say, it is difficult to recognize these characters as the same ones who populated The Crown’s universe in seasons two and three.

•        I am no fan of Margaret Thatcher but, honestly, the Iron Lady deserved better than the mincing, parody-like performance that Gillian Anderson offers in her rendering of the British Prime Minister. Anderson plays her like a hunched old woman, perpetually put upon, both weary and worn-down. You never ever get a hint of the force of nature that Thatcher, a truly transformative figure, was during this period. And that is truly a missed opportunity.

•       The best thing about the show is Emma Corrin’s performance as Princess Diana. She gets Diana’s charm and coyness just right, that slight tilt of the head as she looks up through her lashes at the world, that tremulous smile. But where the show fails – and this is Morgan’s failure rather than Corrin’s – is that it fails to capture the essence of Diana’s personality. Yes, she was naïve in some ways, but she was cunning and manipulative in many others. She may have started out as Shy Di but she soon learned to play the media like a maestro. There were myriad dimensions to her personality and to project her as a mere victim is to do her injustice.

•       Was 80’s fashion really as awful as it is portrayed in this series? I was a college kid, and then a young professional, during this decade and I always thought that we dressed reasonably stylishly. But I couldn’t help cringing at the young Lady Diana’s wardrobe in this series. All those piecrust collars, novelty cardigans, and
meringue-like gowns seem so hopelessly dated, even downright dowdy. That sent me scurrying back to my own photo albums of this period to revisit my own ‘look’ during this time. And you know what, the series has got this entirely right. The 80s really are the decade that fashion forgot.

•       And finally, is it fair to make a TV series about people who are still alive and susceptible to being hurt by the portrayal of their inner lives? How would Charles and Camilla feel, for instance, about being reduced to adulterous fornicators? And how would Prince William and Harry feel about watching their ‘mother’ with her head stuck down a toilet bowl? Is turning other people’s lives into our entertainment
ever a good idea? There are no easy answers; but it’s worth thinking about, anyway.

Let there be light

Celebrating Diwali in the times of Corona can be more fun than you think

I bet that when the Covid 19 alarm bells began ringing around March, you did not think that the Coronavirus would still be keeping us housebound and away from our extended family as Diwali came around.

And yet, here we are!

Today is the day when, in normal times, we would be calling on friends and family with some mithai, perhaps a bottle of champagne, or maybe even a present or two to wish them ‘Happy Diwali’. But given the special circumstances this year, it’s only the most foolhardy – or dare I say it, foolish – among us who would dare socialize while there is a real and present danger that our actions could spread the virus even further. And given the air pollution that we are struggling with – and which, doctors say, makes fighting Covid even more difficult – it would be downright criminal to let off even a single firecracker.

So, how does one celebrate Diwali in the midst of a pandemic?

Well, here are just a few suggestions that I hope will help you get into the festive spirit.

•       Play dress up. This is the best part of Diwali for me. The opportunity to pull out a beautiful sari that has been sulking in my closet for years and allow it to sparkle and shine as it finally gets an airing. Did I hear you say that it would be pointless to make an effort with your appearance given that no one is watching? Well, silly, that’s why social media was invented. Post your pictures on Instagram, tagging all your friends, encourage them to do the same, and form a mutual admiration society that will give all the validation you need – and more.

•       Yes, I know, we are pretty much Zoomed out from those endless work calls and webinars, not to mention online classes. But this is the one time that getting all your family and friends together on a video call would actually be fun. You can check out the decorations in each other’s homes, you can tell your cousin how cute her baby daughter looks in a ghaghra choli, you can even share a Diwali meal, even if all of you are eating it at your respective dining tables miles apart.

•       I have never been much for card games, but I get that for some people Diwali is incomplete without a few hours of teen patti. Well, the good news is that you can play online as well, getting all your usual card partners into a virtual room, where you try your luck against each other. Just don’t play for very high stakes, because it’s not nice to clean anyone out on Diwali. And remember in case you lose, you mustn’t be disheartened. Those who are unlucky with cards are believed to be very lucky in love!

•       Keep up with your family Diwali traditions, even if you might have to modify them a bit this year. For some reason, my mother always made an immense pot of mattar pulao for Diwali dinner, and this year I will remember her as I recreate that dish from memory. I won’t be inviting all my neighbors over to dig in – as she would – because, you know, Covid. But just eating it in her memory will be enough. And, of course, like her I will do a special puja for Lakshmi Mata, praying that she blesses us with peace and prosperity, chanting the same words of the aarti that she knew by heart, and I have to read off a book.

•       I know that your home is probably heaving with packets of mithai, dry fruit and hampers full of goodies dropped off by friends, family and neighbors. But just because your dining table is drowning in kaju barfi, macaroons and besan laddoos, there is no reason why you must eat it all. Spread the joy by distributing it to your staff and those who work in your building.  Carry some in your car and drive to the
nearest intersection where there are kids begging for food. Watching their faces light up will light up your Diwali as well.

Winter is coming

Here’s how you can best enjoy the season in the times of Corona

This is my favourite time of the year in Delhi. When the mornings and evenings turn noticeably cooler. When the afternoon sun loses its searing intensity and softens into a benign rather than malign presence. When the nights draw in faster than ever and you can pretend that the day is done by 6 pm and get set to enjoy your evenings.

Yes, for those of us who live in the north of India, it has become clear over the last week or so that winter is coming. But the question that faces us all is what it will bring with it.

The bad news, of course, is that we are being told by the medical community that Covid cases are bound to go up as the temperatures godown. This has been borne out by events in Europe and America, where the cold weather has brought in a fresh wave of coronavirus cases. In fact, so high is the infection rate in some countries that they have had to enforce fresh lockdowns to try and break the chain.

We can only hope and pray that we don’t see this happen in India as well, as the cold intensifies. But given that viruses like these flourish at lower temperatures, we are bound to see a spike in cases here as well. So, the only solution is to hunker down in our bunkers, maintain social distancing, always wear a mask in public, and keep washing our hands as if our lives depended on it (spoiler alert: it does!).

So, if you are someone like me who longs for the arrival of winter every year, how can you responsibly enjoy this season in the times of Covid?

Well, allow me to count the ways…

The best place to enjoy the bounty of the season is in the privacy of your own kitchen. Winter greens are flooding the market now, and you can indulge in all your personal favourites. For me, that means gorging on sarson ka saag, drowned in industrial quantities of home-churned white butter, scooped up with a makki ki roti. It means adding a healthy dose of fresh methi leaves to every subzi I cook,
from potatoes to gobhi to paneer. It means snacking on freshly-harvested mooli, cutting the bitterness of the radish with a mouthful of something sweet like a peanut chikki. It means feasting on flavourful oranges, biting down on each segment and letting the juice explode in your mouth. It means…ah well, you get the picture.

The start of winter is also the best time to take a long walk in your neighbourhood park. There is a cool breeze to power you along rather than a sharp wind to throw you off your stride. You are not weighed down with multiple layers of clothing to ward off the cold. And better still, you need to work extra hard to break a sweat. (Not to mention that it’s not quite so uncomfortable under the mask!)

If the idea of leaving the sanctuary of your home for a walk seems a bit daunting as Covid cases refuse to go down, then just settle down in a corner of your house that gets the dappled afternoon sun, take an hour off to read a book while you enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea, or simply slip in your headphones and listen to some music. When the sun finally sets, you can enjoy the cool evenings while sitting on your
balcony with a glass (or two) of wine and your better half.

As for me, I am waiting impatiently for the weather to get even colder, so that the Saptaparni (Alstonia) tree that overlooks my balcony starts flowering again. The smell of the blooms is so heady that if I could bottle and sell it, it would make me a millionaire many times over. But frankly, just breathing in that fragrance makes
me feel like a million bucks. And, at the end of the day, that is all that truly matters.

Page-turners

Here’s a list of the books that have kept me entertained over the last month

The best news I have had in months is that Bahrisons, my go-to bookshop in Khan Market, has opened a new branch in Delhi – yes, in the middle of a pandemic, no less. If this isn’t confirmation enough that the book market is thriving then I don’t know what sign would suffice to convince doubters that reading is a more popular activity than ever before.

I guess we have Coronovirus to thank for that. Having being stuck in our homes for months, with nowhere to go and no one to see, many of us have rediscovered our love of books and of reading. When the world around you is stressful and fatiguing, there is nothing quite as relaxing as opening a book and disappearing into an alternate universe that demands nothing more of you than a willingness to engage.

I should know. I have been indulging in my fair share of escapism over these last few months, finding shelter in old books that have the comfort of familiarity, seeking to expand my horizons by rooting out new and unfamiliar works, and begging friends and family for book recommendations when I run out of titles.

Well, today I am returning that favour by recommending some books that I have read recently. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith

This is Book Five in the Cormoran Strike series, written by J.K. Rowling under an assumed name, and it is the best by far. Written at a leisurely pace, as the author takes detours to develop characters and delve into such issues as feminism, this is much more than a murder mystery – even though it revolves around a cold case of a woman who disappeared many decades ago. There is, nonetheless, an urgency to the story that will keep you reading late into the night. For my part, I could not put it down.

The Order by Daniel Silva

Gabriel Allon is back at the Vatican, investigating the suspicious death of a Pope, while being stymied at every turn by a mysterious and powerful cult organization. In case the plot sounds familiar to regular readers of Silva, it’s because it is; we have seen regular iterations of this formula over the years. But this spy thriller ventures into new territory, examining the origins of Christianity and its relationship with the Jewish community. Yes, there are shades of Dan Brown, but this is gripping read that stands on its own merits.

The Spymasters by Chris Whipple

We tend to think of the CIA as some mythic beast with vast powers. But this book shows us that it is like any other government department: often confused, riven with infighting and at the mercy of politicians. This masterly summary of the CIA’s progress over the last 60 years or so captures many of its failures. It did not predict the fall of the Soviet Union and it was wrong about Saddam Hussain’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. Read this, and you will end up feeling more kindly towards R&AW and our own spies.

Melania and Me by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff

The First Lady of the United States has always come off as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma (with due apologies to Winston Churchill). And even after four years in the White House, Melania Trump remains a mysterious figure, waving robot-like at her rare public appearances but saying very little of note. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff’s book provides us with the first glimpse of Melania in private, revealing her in unguarded moments as the two women negotiate a friendship that goes very wrong. The portrait of the First Lady that emerges in this unrelenting take from an insider is not at all flattering. Which, I guess, comes as a surprise to no one at all.

Diary of an MP’s Wife by Sasha Swire

It is safe to say that Sasha Swire was dispatched to social Siberia from the moment the advance copies of this book began circulating. This gossipy, occasionally cruel, always snobby account of the doings of David Cameron’s inner circle (while he was Prime Minister) is astonishing in its frankness and candour. Which is exactly what makes it such delicious reading – best devoured with a glass of wine after the day’s work is done.