Satadru Sovan On Art
I’d like to recommend Thukral & Tagra. They are two Delhi-based artists that I have been following recently. They do collaborative work and exhibit at Nature Morte Gallery, New Delhi. Despite the initial impression that it gives, their work is realistic and not surreal. Their exhibition Put It On, at the Bose Pacia, New York, was a major hit. It was a project on AIDS awareness and safe sex practices in India, especially amongst the Indian youth. They used real people and flowers. They are into both installation art and painting and they are renowned for their detailing. Their work is like a new-media project.

Sovan Is A Delhi-Based Artist

Karthika Nair On Books
Annie Zaidi’s collection of essays, Known Turf, is arresting and unforgettable; about realities we prefer didn’t exist. Starvation deaths, female infanticide and communal intolerance step out of the anonymity of statistics to become people like us. They remind us of our defence mechanisms in the face of horror and sorrow; our efforts to stay sane and functional.

Nair Is A France-Based Poet

Sidd Coutto On Music
Lily Allen sounds like a spoilt British girl, talking about whatever comes to her mind, and I love that about her. She is honest in her lyrics. She isn’t trying to be symbolic or construct grand meanings out of her words. Her songs are very catchy, and the production on them is of excellent quality. They have a reggae-dance style. I love that style, because it’s something I can’t do myself. I liked her first album, Alright, Still. The second one got too commercial.

Coutto Is A Mumbai-Based Singer-Songwriter

Vikas Desai On Film
Ritwik Ghatak’s Meghe Dhaka Tara is the perfect fusion of the subject and its creative manifestation. The total involvement of the maker in the totality of the film is very evident. It throbs with the genuine concern, mastery and passion of Ritwikda. The use of triangular composition, the minute attention to background activity and above all, the magic created by one of the most eloquent soundtracks in Indian cinema — subject for a thesis by itself. It makes me fall in love with cinema all over again.

Desai Is A Mumbai-Based Filmmaker

Tausheed Ahmed On Food
I am always on the lookout for something different from the Indianised food we usually have. Cuisines such as Italian are much more preferable. The Delhi restaurant Spaghetti Kitchen, located in Tagore Garden, seems to fit the criteria. It is a cosy place, ideal for dining with your friends. The food is delightful, so is the ambience. Their menu consists of all the mainstream Italian dishes such as pastas, risottos, rosetta, pizzas and so on. The service is efficient and the entire experience is value for money. An average meal with decent portion sizes there would cost you only around Rs 400-Rs 500.

Ahmed Is The Manager Of Barbeque Nation, New Delhi