BL Ink

The radio commentator’s ability to amuse the listener often saved the day for cricket

Adult film posters add colour to daily commutes. A beneficiary recounts her story

Cake, DVDs, smiles and optimism — Chaplin enthusiast Ashok Aswani gives a Gujarat town unique moments and memories

Rats and chimps grin when tickled, but humans laugh 30 times more when the joke is on others

Six podcasts that produce comedy gold with their tight scripts and talented hosts

Humour is not everyone’s cup of tea or slice of cake — a failed comic writer sums up

Every night, however late it is, I work on a puzzle called WordStorm before falling asleep. It’s like “WordWheel”, which used to appear in ...

In Kombodinjalakkal, a tippler had to visit ‘Kargil’ or turn to ‘Gandhi’ for his daily fix. An eyewitness recounts the turf war that brewed in the village 21 years ago

On shedding clothes and kilos at a diet clinic — and gathering flabby skin and marriage tips

A contact here, a contact there — access to even basic healthcare depends on connections

In a curious turn of events during a rape case hearing in Bihar, the judge ordered the arrest of the plaintiff — angry and vocal — and two NGO workers assisting her

Average Joes cannot afford to be forgetful, rues a reader, recalling how memory lapses nearly cost him his marriage

Ashutosh Bhardwaj’s book is one of the most original works of non-fiction from India in recent times

Abstract expressionist Natvar Bhavsar on the emotional, spiritual and physical involvement with his art, inspired by rangolis, advaita philosophy and Sanskrit

“Have you seen Brain Games?” Bins wants to know. We’re talking, as usual, on WhatsApp. He’s in Morning, India and I’m in Late Night, US. “Is it a ...

With a new book to mark 70 rich storytelling years, author Ruskin Bond dwells on vivid memories of boyhood, on wanting to be a tap dancer or a soccer player, and why he’d rather laugh at himself than at others

The16th-century Mughal ruler still occupies a rich part of the public imagination. In her latest book, author Ira Mukhoty attempts to decode the emperor’s legacy

Schevaran pioneered the local manufacturing of world-class cleaning and hygiene products long before the pandemic led to a boom in demand

Hygiene is the watchword at offices and factories, schools, gyms, hotels, multiplexes et al, as commercial establishments try to woo patrons back in a post-Covid-19 India. To cash in on this demand for disinfected surroundings, a whole host of services and products has entered the market — from sanitisers in a sachet and fruit and vegetable washes to hygiene audits and apps that use artificial intelligence to keep tabs on 20-second handwash regimes

Home care for mild or asymptomatic Covid-19 cases reduces the load on hospitals, but they must be monitored closely for signs of deterioration to ensure timely treatment

For the last 10 years, Mumbai’s Kashish Queer Film Festival has been helming cinematic dialogue on alternative identities

Chennai resident Usha Prabhakaran’s forthcoming digest of 1,000 rasam recipes has stirred foodie interest across continents.

Short trips, medium vacations are on hold. The long stay is possibly the way forward in a post-pandemic world. An aspiring digital nomad turns his attention to the Indonesian island

On July 25, 1908, Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University isolated monosodium glutamate, more commonly known as ajinomoto, a staple in Chinese ...