‘Haathis’ on your ‘dhotis’
Most male friends complain about how terrifying dhotis are but these beautiful, hand block-printed, soft cotton ones from indie designer Hastha are ones to add to your wardrobe. I have been giving them to friends as gifts, hoping their unusual charm will counter the fear of wearing them. The prints range from elephants and horses to traditional kolams. The dhotis are sourced from a weavers’ cooperative in Tamil Nadu, the blocks carved by artisans in Rajasthan, and the printing is done by special needs adults in Chennai. Delivery takes a little longer than promised, since they make the dhotis to order. Find them at hastha.co.in/product-category/dhotis/ – Shalini Umachandran
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Reel world of anime food
An Instagram group where two friends and I would share memes and K-pop fan edits has turned into a catalogue of “anime food” over the last few weeks. We now spend most of our time on that app watching animated clips of someone (mostly in countryside Japan) plucking spinach, cutting scallions, break- ing an egg in a ramen broth...you get the drift. Most of these #animefood reels are food sequences from Studio Ghibli movies. The visuals are often complemented by an audio clip from the original soundtrack, Always With Me, from the Japanese animation studio’s classic, Spirited Away. My algorithm, which had me pegged as this person who couldn’t care less about food content, must be reasonably shaken up with my recent descent into this very specific food ASMR. – Shephali Bhatt
Physics for the everyman
In high school, I found mathematics and physics fascinating. But I sucked at them. I blame the way these subjects are taught at school for this because I have never lost my love for the mysteries of physics. Which is why I decided to buy UK scientist Jim Al- Khalili’s handbook, The World According To Physics. It has been a delightful eye-opener. Dealing with quantum theory, relativity and thermodynamics, this book is the perfect introduction for an interested layman like myself. Al-Khalili’s conversational tone draws you in but he doesn’t dumb things down to make his subject more comprehensible. It’s a rare feat. – Bibek Bhattacharya
Understanding Grief
The podcast On Being with Krista Tippett announced its return with a new season last month. If you ever wanted to question, unlearn, and learn about human experience through writers, poets, activists and therapists, this is a good place to start. I came across the podcast when I was trying to understand grief. It was the episode with therapist and researcher Pauline Boss, who coined the term “ambiguous loss”, a kind of loss that doesn’t come with clear closure or resolution, making it difficult to grasp or discuss. Listening to Boss talk about complicated grief and how guilt and silence can often add to the trauma felt like taking a deep breath; a relief that often accompanies recognition. Ever since, On Being has become a way to navigate the world better. You can find it on Spotify and Apple. – Aisiri Amin
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