Esports, now a medal event at the Hangzhou Asian Games, has a rising star in India. Meet this 21-year-old gamer from Bandra Jonathan Amaral’s new apartment in Bandra offers him a panoramic view of the tony Mumbai suburb and all its scenery, from the vast expanse of sea to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link jutting out of it. But more than those views, what convinced the 21-year-old to splurge Rs 7.5 crore on the house on the ninth floor of a Bandra high-rise was that it gave him an unhindered view of his humble one-BHK childhood home on Hill Road. Has Gandhi become only a social memory and have his ideas about change dissipated into thin air? Over the last 20 years, I have been engaged with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, his complex life and philosophy and his activities that influenced the world’s view on politics and human rights. Growing up in the 1980s in Kerala, I had a very different perspective about him. I have read literature that criticised the political incorrectness of the Congress party and Gandhi himself. Over time, I began observing the many factors that probably layered one’s perspective on truth, and that it cannot be characterised as a single entity but is dynamic. READ MORE READ MORE How Mahatma Gandhi's ideas of no-salt, raw food diet was a precursor to veganism “I shall content myself with merely declaring my firm conviction that…restraint in diet, both as to quantity and quality, is as essential as restraint in thought and speech,” wrote Mahatma Gandhi, as he experimented with food in his quest to find a sustainable way of living with Nature, keep Indians away from colonial impositions and ensure every man and woman was fit enough for his many marches and movements. He was not a nutritionist but in evolving a regime for himself, he tried out several concepts that have even more relevance now. READ MORE How a centuries-old story of a Bangladeshi writer finds new echoes in a Spanish animator's film A city with no crime, no death and no suffering. A street with no men. They are relegated to ‘mardanas’, a feminist equivalent of a ‘zenana’. Women are the rulers of Ladyland, this alternate world, where they move about freely, without a purdah. READ MORE Why owls are all-time favourites I generally keep an ear and eye out for all the local birds that have made the adjoining Nicholson Cemetery, their home for generations. It’s astonishing to think how many fledglings have flown the nest from here over the years. This year too, I kind of took attendance and most (of them) signalled their presence. READ MORE How Doris Day's Que sera sera became an anthem for life itself The earliest lyric in my memoryscape in English is “Que Sera Sera, what will be, will be.” It isn’t Doris Day that I remember; my memory connects me to my papa and my mum singing this and to the energy that it created, the life that they blessed us with, how they navigated the world where we came of age, and how we are today. “What will be, will be”— this is the mantra that got etched permanently into my psyche and stares me in the face whenever I am confronted with tough questions and dire circumstances. READ MORE ‘Social media allows for individual storytelling and can be a tool for Gandhigiri’: Imtiaz Ali In a world that’s spinning on reels and images are a flood, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali has learnt to take a “digital pause” and redefine storytelling the way it should – as an observer, with a simple camera, absorbing life as it happens, unfiltered by judgement or embellishment. Ali didn’t set out to be a filmmaker. Growing up on haunting images of photojournalists, he realised the power of distant observation in shaping narratives, a skill that he honed while travelling as a student on trains. READ MORE Creating an audience for every child A few years ago, I started visiting schools as part of research for one of my books. I would sit quietly and observe children in classrooms, playgrounds, dining halls and various nooks and corners as they went about their lives. I learned more about children in those months than I ever could have, reading any textbooks or any of the degrees I have acquired over the years. I saw how power and privilege play out in schools, who gets to be seen, whose voices are heard and who are left invisible. I remember one of the classes where a teacher made me sit next to a little boy whom she had earlier described as having “special needs.” READ MORE 📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don't miss out on the latest updates!
