manjula narayan

My dad late Commander C Narayanan, Vizag, mid 1970s. He taught me to appreciate good writing and to sniff out fakery #Father'sDay

A painting of the end of meritocracy: A meeting of the two largest economies and not one woman at the table.

I interviewed @SingerHariharan for @htTweets. He spoke about completing 50 years of ghazal singing, his new album Jaan Meri, his show Sartaj-e-Ghazal on Doordarshan, Indo-Pak collaborations in music, and artificial intelligence. (Edits: @utterflea) hindustantimes.com/books/harihara…

Author of Souls of Someone, Shino Cherian talks to me about his moving photobook on the Koovagam festival that captures the pain of marginalisation experienced by transgender women and their relief at finding community

@utterflea Super Sacred in Indian Mythology and is believed to bring Prosperity. Here in Saudi I see it everywhere doing great . Here are few photos from KSA

@utterflea Aak. Flowers are used for Shiva puja. Native plant. It’s a host plant for a few butterflies- they lay eggs on them. So very important in ecology and nature. Toxic. The milk sap can irritate/damage your eyes if the sap falls into your eyes. So be careful when plucking flower

@DrZeeshanHusain Yes, best not touched! Unless yr some Ayurveda expert!

@utterflea Quite popular in our region (Chotanagpur plateau). Very dangerous is its white coloured sap.

Weed of the day - Calotropis procera. Internet says it's toxic, useless blabla but the neighbourhood mali, esteemed Ram Singh, balked when I called it a jungli plant. Said its associated with Lord Shiva. Did a search and parts of it used in Ayurveda, so figures. Attracts butterflies and bees #intotheweeds #gurgaon

Weed of the day, cannabis sativa urf ganja ganja lol I have to say I've never seen cows munching on this tho I have seen humans surreptitiously grab whole branches 😂 #intotheweeds #gurgaon

@prernao2 Lol no just that im not used to seeing him in one 😂😂

@utterflea You don't like the idea of Pankaj Tripathi in a suit?

Everytime I see a pic of Mamdani, I think it's Pankaj Tripathi and wonder why he's wearing a suit? 🙄😂😂

The internet has given people extraordinary confidence. Enough to call the daughter of two INA legends Captain Lakshmi Sahgal and Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal a “fake news peddler” while disputing an anecdote about Netaji where her father was actually present.

Weed of the day - golden crownbeard. I love these and once picked a bunch - they look pretty in a vase but set off sneeze and coughing fits at home. Since then have admired them from afar. Turns out they've travelled all the way from the Americas. #goingintotheweeds #gurgaon

"At the festival in Koovagam, transgender women marry the deity Koothandavar or Aravan, the son of Arjun in the Tamil Mahabharata, and are widowed the next day" - Shino Cherian, author of Souls of Someone, talks to me abt his moving photobook youtu.be/8El0SPmG0Qk?si…

Once a kindergarten teacher, the ever-popular @singerushauthup is now the subject of two picture book biographies for young readers - piece by @chintanwriting hindustantimes.com/s/1Tfz0a0

This week's pick of interesting reads on @htTweets includes a volume on India’s ancient practices for holistic well-being, a book of photographs of Satyajit Ray, and a collection of essays on nature in India hindustantimes.com/s/1ToP8SW

Colm Tóibín: “The main thing is to avoid easy plotting or too much action” The author spoke to @mohdfar123 hindustantimes.com/s/1ToNOIy

"Though the influence of English short fiction is evident, these Odia stories are told in a range of unique styles" - Priyanka Sarkar reviews Maguni’s Bullock Cart & Other Classic Odia Stories hindustantimes.com/s/1ToMrGy

"This book evokes sadness more than it evokes anger or hatred" - Thangkhanlal Ngaihte reviews Stories the Fire Could Not Burn; A Personal Account of the Manipur Crisis by @hoihnu hindustantimes.com/s/1ToMh9M

@htTweets @RoliBooks @DAGworld @WestlandBooks @singerushauthup Read the @htTweets Books page in the epaper: epaper.hindustantimes.com/delhi?eddate=0…

@htTweets @RoliBooks @DAGworld @WestlandBooks Also on the page are pointers to this week's Books & Authors podcast with Shino Cherian, author, Souls of Someone, and to a piece on two new picturebook biographies of @singerushauthup

On the @htTweets Books page today, reviews of Stories the Fire Could Not Burn by @hoihnu and Maguni’s Bullock Cart & Other Classic Odia Stories edited by Mini Krishnan, K Mohapatra et al+ an interview with Colm Toibin abt his new collection of short stories, The News from Dublin