Monica Dogra
Favourite album: Grime’s Art Angels
The Grimes new album, for being so young. I like how as an artist in totality she really represents an aspect of the music industry that needs and deserves more attention. She has a style that is completely her own. She is a wicked performer and an even better producer. I am convinced she is an alien from outer space.
Monica is a singer and an actor
Girish Kumar
Favourite movie: Andaz Apna Apna
My favourite film has to be Andaz Apna Apna. I have seen the film over a thousand times and I’m not even kidding. I have seen the film multiple times in the theatre, right from the day when it was released. The film represents some of the best memories of my childhood and is a laugh riot with immense repeat value. And those few that are yet to watch it, should stop whatever else they are doing and watch this film.
Girish is an actor
Ekta Saigal Pandit
Favourite book: The Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
The only book that was on Steve Job’s iPad is not the solitary reason I would recommend The Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda. The reason one should read it is because it carries, with astonishing lucidity, layers and layers of truths that one could take a lifetime or perhaps many, to unearth on one’s own.
This book must be read by all who realise that we live in a large, dynamic and mysterious world and the way to unravel its mysteries is to go within. Yogananda, a self realised master, shares a plethora of experiences that he goes through right from infancy, the vivid descriptions of his native village, his deep affection for his mother, his unrelenting search for his Guru and his life in the West where he spreads the message of self realisation. Even though one feels reverence for him through the narrative, yet, Yogananda remains so real, down to earth and close all the while. Also, what is unique about this autobiography is that it is inspiringly spiritual and intricately
scientific at the same time.
Ekta is an author
Mayank Pahwa
Favourite play: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The reason it appeals me is because it not only talks about fictional characters but has a larger layer to it, the Great Depression. I personally like plays that are multi-layered. The main character is mentally challenged which shows the innocence of society and his best friend who takes care of him, and ends up killing him which resembles the nature of our society. So it has emotions between the characters and in the larger picture, it also talks about the state of the society at the time of the Great Depression.
Mayank is a theatre artist
Varun Inamdar
Favourite restaurant: Folk Heritage Museum Restaurant in Thimpu, Bhutan
It is one of those few restaurants in the world which is actually a heritage museum in itself. It is a three-storeyed restored structure in the middle of an apple orchard, furnished to look as if it is, indeed, a century old. The experience includes a guided tour which not only provides an interesting glimpse into the rural Bhutanese life but by far the best local food too, and that too in the orchard itself. It is an elaborate traditional lunch, comprising of Zaw (house roasted red rice), Suja (salted butter tea), river weed soup, Goenchu Hogey (cucumber and black pepper salad) and Bhutanese red rice.
Varun is a chef
Mahaakshay Chakraborty
Favourite TV show: House of Cards
My favourite TV show is House Of Cards. It is all about power and greed and politics. At its core lies the most basic instinct of man and what he would do keep his place in history and survive. It isn’t just a political show of a man coming to power. It is also about the love of a man and a woman and how they co-exist in a world filled with greed and treachery. The story reveals to us how power corrupts us all and how, even as we know that, we get lured towards it.
Mahaakshay is an actor
— Compiled by Aarti Bhanushali and Julie Sam
