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  • Kanji: The Millennia-Old Rice Recipe

    It is called jook or zhou or geng in China, zuk in Korea, chao bo in Vietnam, lugaw in Philippines, okayu in Japan, khao tom gung in Thailand. But its most popular name is of Indian origin – ‘congee’, which comes from the Tamil word kanji. What is it? We are talking about that wondrous,…

  • What is Good Writing? Steven Pinker Answers

    Every writer, at least in her sane moments, yearns for her prose to be deemed good. Yet, what delineates quality writing from the mundane remains a mystery to many. While instincts often guide our judgements, isn’t there a more defined metric for literary excellence? Or to be more precise, let’s ask ourselves this simple question:…

  • Making Tea as per the 8th-Century Holy Scripture in 8 Hours

    History may not forgive us for spending such little time and effort on tea-literature when there should be epics and legends written on this celestial nectar. Thankfully, certain Asian cultures will be spared, especially Chinese and Japanese, for they have done their part. So, those of us who love (and sometimes live for) tea must…

  • Writing with Clarity

    Why do we write? In simple words, to express ourselves. Therefore, it is not only desirable but also necessary too that we focus on this aspect of writing. So, let’s explore a few key elements that add clarity to our writing. Structure of the sentence: Write a sentence in the simplest and the clearest way…

  • 3 Reasons to Read Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea

    The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel by the American author Ernest Hemingway which also led him to win Nobel prize in literature. Published in 1952, The Old Man and the Sea is the story of Santiago – an ageing fisherman – who has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish. A…

  • The History of Food

    There are many ways to look at the past: as a list of important dates, a conveyor belt of kings and queens, a series of rising and falling empires, or a narrative of political, philosophical, or technological progress. Or, if you are slightly more creative, you can trace the history of food. Which is what…

  • The Travels of Ibn Battutah

    Ibn Battutah was an Islamic scholar from Morocco who was born in 1304 and kept travelling throughout his life. His travelogues, often titled as The Travels of Ibn Battutah, have been widely translated and are read all over the world. What is so special about his travels? Let’s find out. Ibn Battutah started on his…

  • The Story of India’s First Newspaper

    Saturday, 29 January 1780. It had been 90 years since the city of Calcutta was established and his was the first. Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, India’s first newspaper, was a sensation. People were happy to finally have a newspaper. Printed on Saturdays, each issue was four pages and cost Re 1, similar in price to newspapers…