03-05-2025
Saturday Feeling: Stories and art for the child in you
There are ogres stapled to the floor—and they're the first thing that catch your eye when you enter the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad in Bengaluru, where a huge exhibition, One Hundred Years and Counting, to mark the birth centenary of artist K.G. Subramanyanhas arrived, after a showing in Kolkata. Subramanyan was prolific and versatile—the 200 works, including murals, oils, sketches, watercolours, wooden toys and even swatches of fabric he designed, are a fraction of his oeuvre. But, it's in his books for children that one can read his belief that no one was too young for him or his work. The characters on the floor are similar to the ones in his 1974 book, Our Friends, The Ogres, a playful yet pointed critique of corporate greed and environmental damage at a time when few thought about concepts like solastalgia, and especially not for children. The book surprised me when I happened upon in a museum gift shop a decade ago, and then learned that Subramanyan did a set of 10 screen-printed children's books, all of them attacking big issues with whimsy. It's the kind of work that scores of children's book illustrators are doing today, recognizing that children can't, and don't need to be shielded, from complex ideas and bitter truths. This week, Avantika Bhuyan takes a look at how artists and illustrators are leading the storytelling at many children's publishing imprints, ensuring that there is greater representation of voices, communities, regions and experiences. It's a story about artists using their voice but also emphasizes that children's books aren't just for little people; they open up new perspectives for adults, speak to the child within the grown-up, and remind us of a time when the world held novelty.
The cover of the print issue of 'Mint Lounge' dated 3 May 2025, with art from Ogin Nayam's 'When the Sun Sets', published by Pratham Books.
There are quite a few stories about storytelling this week. A travel writer tells a tale of nearly getting stuck in Utah's slot canyons, and we have a great read on microdramas, a new digital storytelling sensation that has spawned a multibillion-dollar industry. These vertically-shot microseries run to 50-100 episodes, each just a minute at best. They're terrible, but they're so very addictive—and they're probably not something to watchso pick from our recommendations instead.
We're all tired of ads—targeted, random, pop-up, autoplay, or whatever other form they take while we're online. As advertising creeps deeper into digital life, technology geeks, privacy enthusiasts and digital rebels are quietly fighting back. With sophisticated but free-to-use ad blockers and VPN settings, they are shaping a parallel version of the internet—one where users' attention isn't for sale at every blink. Shephali Bhatt meets the people checking out of the ad-verse by installing browser extensions, privacy guards, VPN services. As more people turn to these tech-savvy users for guidance, ad-blocking could move from the margins to the mainstream—and the future of the attention economy may no longer belong to platforms, but to individuals reclaiming control over what gets their time. Read more.
Ritu Beri was one of the earliest fashion designers from India to work in Paris—opening and shutting a store, joining a luxury house, having a ramp show—but she doesn't have a string of stores to her name in India. Instead, she's opened an experiential space in Palolem in Goa, where she sells a limited line of her clothing alongside other artists' and designers' works. She also curates meals, shows, talks and performances at her property, Escape. She talks to Pooja Singh about this new stage in her career, and about why she doesn't plan to sell her brand. Read more.
There's one smartphone brand that has flown under the radar over the past year, quietly releasing new models with low-key marketing. Going by market data, Motorola, now under the tutelage of Lenovo, is a winner with its mid-range smartphones propelling the company's market share. The Motorola Edge 60 Fusion is one of the new releases, which Sahil Bhalla used the breezy, no-frills smartphone for a few months. Priced from ₹ 22,999 onwards, it has a significantly improved OLED display (with Gorilla Glass 7 protection), a larger battery capacity, increased storage, a refreshed chipset, and faux vegan leather finishes in three colours, making it a solid choice as a good budget smartphone. Performance is good, and only gamers should look elsewhere. Read more.
Supper clubs are no longer just about serving regional specialities or homemade sourdough. Home chefs who made a name for their tables during the pandemic are now travelling the globe, mastering cuisines from all corners of the world and serving them in their homes with the touch of intimacy and care that restaurants can't match. Read more.
The Champions League final is a while away but all the semi-finalists this year were a surprising mix of teams that worked through their adversities and found their identities over the course of the season. It's been a season that Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit describes as thrilling, since he admires teams that play attacking football. Gullit, who once formed a part of the fearsome attacking trio with Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard, is a staunch advocate of 'Total Football', the flowing, attack-minded, space-exploiting, mode of play. In an exclusive interview with Rudraneil Sengupta, Gullit breaks down the Champions League semifinals, celebrates club identity, attacking football, and discusses the return of football DNA. Read more.
