Latest news with #Tara
Scroll.in
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘Not ethical questions, but aesthetic ones': What's on Keshava Guha's mind while crafting a novel
Keshava Guha was born in Delhi and raised in Bangalore. His debut novel, Accidental Magic, was published in 2019 and his most recent novel, The Tiger's Share, was published in 2025 Besides novels, Keshava Guha has also written short stories and essays on politics, culture and sport. He is also a journalist and was previously a senior editor at Juggernaut Books. The Tiger's Share revolves around two women protagonists. After having dedicated her life to achieving professional success in Delhi, Tara is everything her brother isn't: steadfast, independent, thriving. Meanwhile, Tara's friend, Lila, has it all: the great job, the lovely home, the beautiful family. But when her father dies, Lila's brother wastes no time in claiming what's his. Together, Tara and Lila are forced to confront the challenge that their ambition and success have posed to patriarchal Delhi society. In a conversation with Scroll, Guha talked about why he wanted to write about the conflict between different notions of inheritance, why the novel is a love–hate letter to Delhi, and why as a novelist he is more concerned about aesthetics than ethics. Excerpts from the conversation: The Tiger's Share is filled with characters who are intelligent, conflicted, and more often than not, a little out of step with their times or families. Could you share with us what drew you to exploring the inner lives of people who are both privileged and deeply uncertain about their place in the world? Inner life is fiction's particular and exclusive realm; it's what novels and short stories can do, and journalism and cinema/television, on the whole, cannot. That's one reason why the claim, so popular a few years ago, that 'prestige TV is to the 21st century what novels were to the 19th' was a load of nonsense. Indian fiction in English is, more or less by definition, an elite activity – and yet there can be a certain hesitancy about the non-satirical portrayal of English-speaking elites themselves. The notion that in a poor, unequal society literature ought to be 'progressive' – highlight injustice, advance noble causes –has meant that Indian writers, not only in English, have stayed well away from Henry James/Edith Wharton territory. I saw an opportunity, therefore, to write about a world that I knew and that hadn't been fully explored. The feeling of uncertainty you refer to has two sources: one, moral confusion brought on by the pace of social change, and two, a more specific anxiety about the place of the English-speaking elite in today's India. Throughout the book, there is a quiet but powerful commentary on what it means to 'inherit' – not just tangible wealth like money, jewellery, property, land, etc, but also values, identities, even moral burdens. What do you think Indian families today are truly passing down to the next generation? You are absolutely right that questions of 'inheritance' – not only in the material sense – are at the heart of the book. I wanted to write about the conflict between two notions of inheritance that seemed to me to define life in this part of Delhi. First, the idea that wealth belongs to a family, not to individuals, and that means that future, unborn generations too have a stake – this is often cited by rich Indians as a justification for not giving money away to those who actually need it (or, implicitly, as a justification for tax avoidance). 'It's not my money', they say, not mine to give away. One the one hand, this 'Patek Philippe' approach to inheritance – you're not an owner, just a custodian – on the other, an approach to nature which says that all that matters is to accumulate and consume as much as possible right now, and to hell with future generations and giving them a city or planet fit to live in. So Delhi parents hope to pass on physical property, even if that property is in an ecological hellhole. But a question that animates my novel is, what nonmaterial values are they going to pass on? Brahm Saxena's ambition – to pass on, not only to his children but to anyone who will listen, an awareness of what humans have done to our environment and why we have done it – is a throwback to an earlier era, that of the freedom struggle, in which parents might bequeath idealism as well as apartments. As someone from Calcutta who moved to Delhi for work, I often find myself caught in a love-hate relationship with this city. In that sense, one of my absolute favourite aspects of your book was its deeply vivid portrayal of Delhi. It wasn't just a backdrop – it felt like a living, breathing, even rotting organism, thick with unbearable heat, tangled politics, and lingering memories. How did your own experiences of the city shape the way you wrote it into the novel? Like you, I did not grow up in Delhi, and moved there primarily for professional reasons. Very little in the book is directly autobiographical, and I chose to write from a perspective quite different from my own, in that Tara has lived in Delhi all her life and, except as a student or tourist, has known no other city. The novel is, to appropriate your own phrase, a love-hate letter to the city. I hope that enough of the love is evident. I made lifelong friends in Delhi and found it a much more welcoming place than it is sometimes reputed to be. But the balance sheet of love and hate does not even out – it was ultimately too difficult for me to look past the reality of class segregation, patriarchy, materialism and ecological catastrophe. As Brahm Saxena implies right at the start of the novel, Delhi ought to have been the greatest city in the world. You have also subtly been able to interrogate masculinity, especially modern Indian masculinity, through characters like Rohit, Kunal, and even Brahm Saxena to an extent. What were you trying to uncover about how men relate to legacy, failure, and self-worth? Rohit and Kunal are not meant in any sense as representatives or exemplars. There are many kinds of Delhi or Indian masculinity – look at the evolution of someone like Virat Kohli, who used to be thought of as the archetypal macho West Delhi man, and ended up as perhaps India's most influential advocate of the importance of fatherhood. I wasn't trying to uncover anything about men, or Indian men, in general, through Rohit, Kunal or Brahm. Kunal and Rohit are responding to what they see as threats – the threats posed by their sisters, and by the values of feminism, as well as (although this is explored less directly in the novel) the potential threat of men from less-privileged backgrounds who are more driven. India is more unequal than ever, but the English-speaking south Delhi elite is in some ways less protected than it was before 1991. At some point in the book, Brahm Saxena's character and narrative arc made me wonder: Can someone be good without being useful? And in a deeply compromised world, is moral clarity enough? Were you also consciously grappling with these kinds of ethical questions while writing the novel, in how you shaped your characters, what they stood for, and the story you wanted to tell? These questions are above the pay grade of not just this novelist, but of novelists in general. We dramatise ethical dilemmas, but the point is to show life is or might be lived, not to arrive at generalisable moral claims or precepts. Interviews – and, increasingly, reviews – tend to focus on the moral and political content of novels, to mine them for lessons or controversy. That's appropriate to the form of the interview, which, after all, is meant to be of interest to someone who hasn't read, and may never read, the book in question. I don't mean to diminish the importance of these matters – but they tend not to be top of mind, at least not for me. What is top of mind are not ethical questions, but aesthetic ones – matters of form, above all, prose. Prose is of such primary importance to writers – but we find ourselves reviewed and interviewed with almost no reference to style or form. That is not a complaint; just a reflection on how different the experiences of writing a book and talking about it are. Staying with Tara for a moment, I found her perspective to be particularly fitting for the story you've told. At the same time, I couldn't help but notice how she vocal she is on being self-righteous and yet her actions, such as distancing herself from 'feminist lawyers', activist causes, amongst others, often seem to fall short of the ideals she claims to uphold. What does this ambivalence say about the pressures on women who 'succeed' within the system but are also expected to critique or resist it? I'm not sure that I agree that Tara is 'vocal on being self-righteous'. She certainly can be self-righteous, but at the same time, as her father's daughter, I suspect she would reject the label. Her decision not to become a certain kind of lawyer is down to her awareness of trade-offs. Again, she would disclaim the label, but many people would say that Tara is in fact ambitious. I see her as someone who is morally serious – that is to say, she thinks seriously about moral questions – but not as any kind of earnest 'do-gooder' who, when confronted by a trade-off, always takes the high road even when that means giving up something of value. To your final question – Tara, as I see her, is more committed to succeeding within the system – on her terms – than to critiquing it, except in private. Many moments and instances in the novel seem to resist a resolution as characters choose uncertain paths, and readers are left sitting with open questions. Is this refusal to tie things up a conscious choice? Do you see ambiguity, much like our lives, as a more honest form of storytelling? I don't know if it is more honest, but it is what I prefer, both as a writer and a reader. I love the fact that fiction is a collaboration between writer and reader – that every reader can make up their own mind about whether or not, at the end of Henry James' Portrait of a Lady, Isabel Archer is really going to go back to Osmond. In the case of The Tiger's Share, some of the lack of resolution has to do with the fact that lives are not lived, and ethical questions not resolved, in the abstract. Tara decides that she cannot choose based on moral principles alone, but has to also consider what her choice means for her relationship with her mother. What conversations do you hope this novel sparks – in families, among readers, or in public discourse? If you had to sum up the message in one sentence, would would it be? This is, as your previous question implies, not a didactic novel: it has no message. Of course, I'd be thrilled if it sparks conversations about inheritance, or how to recover idealism, or how to stop and begin to reverse the destruction of our ecology, but it is a novel, not a work of social and political commentary, and I hope it is read that way.
Irish Times
17 hours ago
- General
- Irish Times
Kincora: Britain's Shame by Chris Moore - Strong and unnerving, some accounts linger like a bad taste
Kincora: Britain's Shame Author : Chris Moore ISBN-13 : 9781785375545 Publisher : Merrion Press Guideline Price : €19.99 When Chris Moore started working as a journalist with the BBC in 1979, one of his first assignments was to report on sexual abuse of boys at the Kincora Boys' Home on the Newtownards Road in Belfast . That home was being run by three men, Joseph Mains, Raymond Semple and William McGrath, who were convicted of raping boys in their care. But from an early stage there were indications that the story was much wider than the predations of these three horrors. McGrath was the leader of an eccentric loyalist paramilitary group called Tara, which was interested in reviving Irish identity among Protestants with a view to uniting Ireland inside the UK . He was an evangelical preacher with a theology which endorsed his homosexual interests. Hadn't there been loving relationships between men in the Bible? Think Jesus and John. READ MORE McGrath's political connections raised suspicion that men in his wider circle were abusing children at Kincora too and, further, that the security services had an interest in suppressing the story and curtailing Moore's investigations. Moore is now in his 70s and an independent researcher and writer, free of some of the constraints he believes the BBC imposed on him. And remarkably, he has stayed with this story and travelled the world to meet the men whose lives were tarnished by McGrath and others. Much of Moore's approach is to extrapolate from evidence and in cases his extrapolations are strong and unnerving. There was interference from MI5. McGrath was an agent. MI5's interest was in exploring the connections between unionist politicians and loyalist paramilitaries. There are compelling witness accounts here of boys being taken from the home to servicemen with secret lives, most notably Lord Louis Mountbatten , identified retrospectively by boys as their abuser from his picture on television after he was blown up in his boat by the IRA at Mullaghmore in 1979. The book also reminds us of a time when McGrath's homosexuality was treated as criminal and sinful. The account of him being subjected on police orders to the discredited anal dilation test is one that, once read, lingers like a bad taste. But a word to his publisher: a book like this should have end notes and an index.
Newsweek
a day ago
- General
- Newsweek
Man, 87, on 'Bucket List' Trip Not Prepared for Note He Gets From Flight Attendant
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. When an elderly man boarded an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Juneau, Alaska, his travel companion knew the journey carried special weight. The 87-year-old passenger, facing late-stage heart failure, had long dreamed of visiting the state, telling his granddaughter, "I just want to see the mountains one last time." According to the original poster (OP) on Reddit, the quiet flight soon took a touching turn thanks to one observant crew member. Touching Note The granddaughter wrote that her grandfather spent the flight holding her hand and gazing out the window. A flight attendant—possibly named Tara or Taryn—noticed and approached them gently to check in. After hearing that the trip was part of the man's bucket list, she returned with a set of Alaska Airlines wings and a handwritten note. It read: "We're honored to fly with you today. Thank you for letting us be part of your journey." Stock image: Elderly man in an airport. Stock image: Elderly man in an airport. ajr_images/iStock/Getty Images Plus According to the OP, the man carried that note for the rest of the trip. He passed away peacefully three weeks later and the family buried him with the message in his coat pocket. Approached for comment, a spokesperson for Alaska Airlines told Newsweek that while the carrier's staff members are working to confirm the details and identify the flight attendant involved, "We are deeply moved to hear how this moment resonated with the family and your readers. "At Alaska, we are incredibly proud of our flight attendants and all employees who lead with heart and empathy," the spokesperson continued. "While we can't speak to this individual moment without further verification, we can say that recognizing acts of kindness is core to our internal culture. "We have several programs in place—from peer-nominated awards to leadership shout-outs—that celebrate employees who live our values of service and compassion." Reactions from fellow users on Reddit were swift and emotional. One wrote simply, "Wow! Goose bumps!" Another added, "I'm chopping onions again." A third shared, "I am so sorry about you losing your grandpa... but what a beautiful memory you gave him." Another contributor, reflecting on her own experience, commented, "[Alaska Airlines] has many, many lovely flight attendants and I'm getting to know more now. Not surprised to hear about this gesture. "Many good days to you and thank you for sharing." 'Share feedback' While the moment described might have been brief, it left a lasting impact, capturing how frontline airline workers can leave deep impressions with small acts of attention. As highlighted in Alaska Airlines' feedback portal, the company actively encourages passengers to share stories of both praise and concerns. Their site states: "We are always striving to be better. "Share feedback on what we did well, what we could have done better, or any ideas that will make Alaska Airlines the best place to fly." The airline invites notes not only for general travel experiences, but also for accessibility and mileage plan suggestions. Airplane Etiquette Broader conversations about in-flight conduct and courtesy often take off on the forum. A Newsweek article exploring a YouGov poll on airplane etiquette found that 45% of Americans believe passengers should remove headphones when speaking to crew, while a strong majority expect basic civility during flights. That survey revealed a desire for kindness from both crew and fellow passengers, echoing the respect shown in this story. A Redditor shared with the OP in the thread that they can, "Only imagine the mountains and wonders," that the grandfather is now experiencing. "It's great that Alaska was able to give him a quick glimpse of even bigger things to come," they mused. Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via Reddit. Newsweek's "What Should I Do?" offers expert advice to readers. If you have a personal dilemma, let us know via life@ We can ask experts for advice on relationships, family, friends, money and work, and your story could be featured on WSID at Newsweek. To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, click here.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Has Tara Sutaria moved on with Sky Force star Veer Pahariya after Aadar Jain? Netizens say ‘if they get married…'
Bollywood celebrities usually keep their relationship status low-key, hiding it from the public eye. But every now and then a star couple proudly walks around hand-in-hand, serving as a breath of fresh air for netizens. Former love birds Tara Sutaria and Aadar Jain were one such jodi. Until they parted ways in 2023, ending their four year long relationship. Earlier this year, Aadar got married to his 'first crush' and entrepreneur Alekha Advani in a grand wedding, which was attended by the entire Kapoor Khandaan including Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan. Well, rumours now suggest that Tara has also moved on. A post shared by yogen shah (@yogenshah_s) According to buzz on social media, Tara Sutaria is reportedly dating Veer Pahariya, who began his journey in Bollywood as an actor this year with Akshay Kumar's film Sky Force. The two had walked the ramp together in March as showstoppers for the 2025 Lakmē Fashion Week and were recently snapped coming out of the same restaurant, probably after dinner together. This comes as an interesting development because just a few weeks ago rumours suggested that Tara was in a relationship with rapper Badshah whereas Veer was reportedly courting Manushi Chhillar during Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's wedding celebrations. Guess they were just rumours then? Well, some netizens are here for it! Talking about possible wedding bells in the future, one social media user stated, 'On the bright side if they get married she only needs to change 60 percent of her surname,' whereas another joked, 'Sutaria and Pahariya ? Yeh kya horiya ? I'll show myself out…' Referring to Veer's brother Shikhar Pahariya's girlfriend Janhvi Kapoor, a netizen shared, 'imagine janhvi and tara as sister in laws lmao.' Then there were fans who cracked jokes in reference to Veer's viral langdi step from his debut film. One such comment read, 'What is this Tara?!?! Just cos he did langdi dance around you doesn't mean you date him,' while another netizen shared, 'He got his langdi partner.' A social media user also stated, 'Average date night: Main toh rang gaya rang tere baanware, Jaaun sadke tihaare mere saanware, Ho main toh jhoom jhoom ke gaau re, Main toh jhoom jhoom ke gaau re.' Meanwhile, there were some who wondered if these dating rumours were a PR stunt. A comment read, 'Relax guys movie aa rahi hogi dono ki,' whereas another wrote, 'I think they have an upcoming film together. Feels like just a stupid PR stunt. But if it's true, Tara's taste in men is just… eww 🤢🙏🏻.' We'll just have to wait for Tara and Veer to confirm!
Mint
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Tara Sutaria dating Veer Pahariya months after ex Aadar Jain ties the knot? Here's what we know
Tara Sutaria has been in the news this year mostly for her personal relationships rather than work. She made headlines when her ex Aadar Jain tied the knot earlier this year. While it has been some time since Aadar's wedding, it seems Tara is ready to give love a second chance. Reportedly, Tara Sutaria is dating actor Veer Pahariya. According to an ETimes report, the couple has been dating for two months now. 'The two started dating just a couple of months ago. And they are trying to figure things out. They often keep going out for dates," the insider was quoted by the news outlet. Veer Pahariya is the grandson of Sushilkumar Shinde, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Veer is a newcomer in Bollywood who made his debut in the industry with Akshay Kumar's Sky Force. In the film, he starred opposite Sara Ali Khan whom he once dated years ago. Veer is also the brother of Shikhar Pahariya who is currently dating actor Janhvi Kapoor. While his film Sky Force received an average response, Veer created a storm on the internet with his viral dance step in a song. He went on to become a meme sensation. A few days ago, Veer and Tara were spotted exiting the same restaurant but separately. While Tara was seen leaving with her gal pals, Veer stepped out alone and even posed for cameras. Tara and Veer have also walked the ramp together earlier this year. They attended the Lakmē Fashion Week x FDCI for the brand ASOS. While Tara wore a black lacey gown for the fashion show, Veer walked wearing a white suit and matching pants. Tara Sutaria previously dated actor Aadar Jain. The two broke up sometime in 2023 and later Aadar married Alekha Advani in March. Tara's name was caught during the pre-wedding functions of Aadar Jain when he seemingly took a dig at her with his infamous 'time pass' comment. He told his wife publicly, 'I have always loved her and I have always wanted to be with her. So she sent me on this long journey of 20 years through time-pass. It was worth the wait because I get to marry this beautiful, beautiful woman, who looks like a dream. I love you, and it was worth the wait. It's a secret, I have always loved her. I have done time pass for four years of my life. But now I'm with you, baby.' However, Aadar later clarified that his comment was taken out of context. 'There are so many false narratives, false assumptions, but no fact-checkers. Unfortunately, what happens is when people make up stories and say certain things, the people who get affected are the people involved and their families. In this scenario, from day one, there's been so many things written. Out of respect, everyone has been silent about it. People then take liberty to say what they want. It's unfair for her (pointing towards Alekha) and her family, me and my family, her (directing at Tara) and her family. Obviously, there's no truth to any of it," Aadar told Times of India.
