Tushar Mangl

Sharath Komarraju's book Tree Bears Witness was released last month and I just copy last evening. Liked it so much, I finished it in a single sitting. So what's the book all about? Emperor Akbar has just married the Rajput princess Hira Kunwari and one of the wedding guests ends up dead. The man, Sujjamal is also the princess's favorite brother but disliked by most of the party. That he is found dead in mysterious circumstances in his own palace could have serious implications on the political and personal life of the King.  Himself a suspect, the King turns to his favorite and reliable courtier, Birbal to solve this mystery. Even for the witty Birbal, this is a challenge. For, the garden in which murder happened, the two guards on duty have different versions to tell. The murderer simply vanished into thin air.  Everyone from the King to the cousins of the dead man, to King's half-brother. Motives aplenty but how the murder was done, remains elusiv...

DLF 5 and Tasting India Symposium recently organized an evening session with a featured talk with the great Madhur Jaffrey (the global first lady of Indian cuisine) and Kaveree Bamzai, the reputed editor of Robb India.                                                     It was 8. 15 by the time I reached the famed DLF Country and Golf Club, the venue of the talk. The courteous staff at the place welcomed me into a meet and greet party. The guests were all assembling, sampling some fine wine and Indian starters. I met people I knew, circulated around and saw Kaveree and Madhur sitting in a corner, talking. A friend and I debated to intrude or not, but eventually, we just went ahead to introduce ourselves. And like good fans requested a photograph for memory which was so graciously permitted, that it left us truly humbled.        ...