Life & Style

It started with a few feathers of an Indian silverbill that Esha Munshi had saved from one of her cats during the pandemic, back in 2020. Esha, an architect by training and the founder of the Feather Library, which has just added an extremely rare Sooty Shearwater —the only Indian specimen of this migratory seabird —to its collection, says, “I rescued the bird, but, in fright, it lost a few feathers.” She remembers looking down at the feathers she held in her hands, “smaller than my finger…so tiny and delicate,” and realised that she wanted to know more about them. “I just got curious and wanted to see the flight feathers of all birds,” says the self-confessed ‘bird nerd’, who has been obsessed with birds since she spotted a black-crowned night heron outside the window of her office in 2013.

She searched for more information about feathers but couldn’t find it. So, she set the thought aside and returned to her regular life in Ahmedabad, practising architecture and pursuing the Cornell Lab’s ‘Ornithology: Comprehensive Bird Biology’ course, an online certification course focusing on avian biology. She also began working on a project with Cornell, annotating bird sounds to train the AI tool for the Merlin App. “I am a bird sound recordist…was always interested in recording the sound of the bird, and during COVID got this project,” explains Esha, who travels frequently to birdwatch and has spotted more than 1000 of the 1300-odd species of birds in India.

Then, on a trip to the Rann of Kutch the next year, the idea came back to her. She recalls telling the friends who had accompanied her that she wanted to create a collection of feathers. “I remember the date, September 9. In the morning, I discussed this, and that evening, I found a roadkill of a hoopoe. So, I took it as a sign,” says Esha, who approached the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests soon after to get permission to collect bird feathers.

Since private individuals are not permitted to collect or possess taxidermy bird trophies or even feathers, she was asked to establish a private trust and got permission to document and digitise the flight feathers of birds that had died naturally.

The Feather Library documents the flight feathers of Indian birds
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

In November 2021, less than two months later, the Feather Library, a unique initiative dedicated to documenting, identifying, and studying the flight feathers of Indian birds, was born. “I published the website at midnight on November 15, which is also my birthday,” says Esha, now an Honorary Curator of Birds at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR), Bengaluru, where the physical collection of the Feather Library is currently housed.

“I created a website with five specimens, a prototype,” she says, adding that her co-founder was Sherwin Everett, who used to work at an animal rescue centre called Jivdaya in Ahmedabad. “We would collect the birds that did not survive at Jivdaya and document their flight feathers.”

Two months after the launch, she formally quit architecture and poured her heart and soul into this initiative, deepening her expertise by studying further at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “I already had friends there because of my annotation project. I told them that I had released something like this in India, and wanted to come and learn taxidermy and how to make museum specimens,” says Esha.

On her return from Cornell, she had a meeting with ecologists Uma Ramakrishnan and Vivek Ramachandran at NCBS and decided to collaborate with the institute. “I shifted the whole collection here in August 2022,” says Esha, who had collected around 50-60 specimens back then.

Not only is the Feather Library the only one of its kind in India, but it is also a unique initiative globally, with only Germany’s Featherbase and the United States’ The Feather Atlas undertaking a similar endeavour, says Esha, who underwent training in feather microstructure at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C, earlier this year.

Today, it has grown to encompass feathers of nearly 160 species of birds and approximately 400 specimens housed in the temperature-controlled research collections facility at NCBS. Esha shows me around, opening drawer after drawer filled with wings, feathers and preserved whole birds, adding that she now has permission in Karnataka and Gujarat to collect deceased animals for stuffing, not just their feathers.

I listen to her reel off names, “barn owl, spotted owlet, Indian pitta, golden oriole, coppersmith barbet, house crow, the Asian koel” until we finally reach the pièce de résistance: the Sooty Shearwater, which she received in August this year after it died of natural causes at a rescue centre in Porbandar, Gujarat.

“It was a jackpot, actually,” she believes. “There is only one other previous record of a Sooty Shearwater in India…a photographic record taken off the coast of Mangaluru in Karnataka.”

The rare Sooty Shearwater
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Preserving these birds is a lengthy and meticulous process that requires considerable patience and precision. “When I find a bird, it is frozen for two days to take care of basic biosafety, if there are any bacteria or viruses,” says Esha.

After filling a form recording specific details about the bird, including species and specimen number, where and when the bird was found, and the cause of its death, Esha takes some basic measurements, “like weight, wingspan, length of the bird, head and beak width.”

Then, she performs the taxidermy of the bird, skinning, stuffing, sewing, and drying it before mounting it, with one wing stretched out to exhibit its shape and various feathers. “Before pinning, I remove individual flight feathers, scan and number them and keep them in the correct order. And then, when everything is done, I upload it to the website.”

The feathers of an Indian Pitta
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The feather library serves more than just quenching Esha’s thirst to learn about and collect bird feathers. In her opinion, many fundamental questions about feathers remain unanswered because there are very few researchers working on feathers worldwide.

“That is what makes it very unique and niche,” she says, pointing out that saving these feathers could help answer some of these questions. “The hope is that someday, we can expand across India and at least have one specimen of every Indian bird,” says Esha, who also wants to someday transform the collection into an ornithology museum where specimen-based research can be conducted.

“Having a bird in your hand allows you to figure out so many minor details, which you’ll never be able to do while birdwatching. And there is something new to learn from every bird.”

Did you know that the Kurukshetra war was sparked by tensions between the Pandavas and Kauravas long before the Mayasabha was even built? 

Or that the popular tale of Draupadi’s laughter provoking Duryodhana and setting him on the warpath was a relatively recent embellishment rather than an ancient truth?

And did you know that there is a scientific explanation for the story of Shikhandi, who was born female but became a male later in life?

Bestselling fiction author Christopher C Doyle shattered several long-held beliefs about the epic and provided scientific explanations for stories from the Mahabharata during an engrossing evening with readers in Chennai on November 2 at Backyard Cafe, Adyar. The conversation, hosted by the book club Broke Bibliophiles — Chennai in association with Westland Books, grabbed the audience with many deep dives into the history, science and storytelling aspects of this text. 

“I’ve realised that behind every backstory in the text, there’s another one, and then another. The layers are endless, which is great for me as an author,” Doyle remarked with a smile.

The passion and joy that Doyle has mined in the last decade of spinning his fiction from verified kernels of history and science were evident as the audience smiled along and posed insightful questions through the short exploration of the various parvas, hidden expositions, confabulations, and revisionist history in and of the Mahabharata.

“Christopher’s storytelling is a masterclass in engagement. It makes you lean in and awakens your curiosity. His talk has inspired me to explore the Mahabharata in its original translation, which would be both humbling and illuminating,” said Prashant Kunnath, an IT professional.

Explaining his research process as the free-flowing conversation kicked off, Doyle shared how every story, for him, begins with science. He described how reading about the ‘Bootleg Fire’ in Oregon a few years ago led him to reinterpret the Khandava forest fire, a contrivance of Agni, as a storyteller. 

He reeled in the audience with descriptions of pyrocumulonimbus clouds—the towering, thunderous columns formed by raging wildfires—and how their visual similarity to the ‘unquenchable fire’ event expounded in the Mahabharata inspires this and other story arcs connecting real-world phenomena and perceived divine imagery in his books. 

“I read a lot of scientific journals and research papers. So, I always start with what science can tell us, and then I see how it connects back to an incident in the epic and take the story from there,” he said.

This methodical approach, weaving together science and history, underpins his distinctive fiction writing style in The Mahabharata Quest and The Pataala Prophecy series. While the former started off as a collection of stories to engage his then-young daughter, all the books have drawn readers of various age groups over the years.

“The conversation was very insightful for this evening’s varied audience of young readers and erudite followers of the epic. Christopher gave us a proper peek into the science of it all by sharing how every book he writes is meticulously researched, vetted by experts and born of deep curiosity. It is a true labour of love,” remarked Solomon Manoj, curator of Broke Bibliophiles – Chennai.

Doyle also held forth on how centuries of oral traditions have shaped the epic. Drawing on authoritative Sanskrit versions, he explained that travelling bards and storytellers may have influenced how many of the shlokas and chapters have been written in looping, repetitive structures, designed for recitation and memory.

He sided with the audience’s perspective that the Mahabharata is not narrated from the perspective of gods but ordinary humans, making it deeply relatable. He outlined how characters like Ashwatthama, who loses his moral balance after his father’s death, and their arcs illustrate that emotion and human frailty are deeply embedded in the text.

“No character’s actions are above reproach. That’s what makes it timeless,” Doyle said. 

From these human stories, the author noted, also emerge managerial and leadership lessons on decision-making, ethics and responsibility, entirely relevant in today’s world.

When called to remark on the distinction between the popular genre of mythology and stories in religious texts, Doyle cited the example of Alexander the Great, noting how much of what we believe about him is not backed up by physical or archaeological evidence. He pointed out that the Mahabharata itself is described as an itihasa, a word that loosely translates to “this is what happened”, indicating that it is rooted in history and therefore distinct from pure myth. 

This incisive tendency to look beyond the obvious is also reflected in Doyle’s origin story of his The Pataala Prophecy series for young adults. The idea, he shared, took shape after witnessing a literary festival panel a few years ago which pitted its speakers on the possibility of a “desi Harry Potter” ever being written. While the verdict was ‘nay’, Doyle took it as a challenge but with a twist. 

“I didn’t want to rehash Harry Potter,” he said. “It would neither translate elegantly nor really be relevant for our readers. I wanted something rooted in our own texts, the Vedas and the Puranas, something uniquely Indian.”

What followed was years of intensive research and collaboration with subject experts, including acclaimed author Shubh Vilas. The result is a series that weaves together ancient wisdom and modern storytelling, much like his explorations of the Mahabharata itself.

And the proof of this potential-turned-premise is in the pudding. 

“I have had so many readers writing to me over the years, especially young people, telling me how the series has grabbed them and following up on when the next instalment would be out. One of them even regaled me with this tale of how her mother got hooked by the book immediately after it arrived and how their dinner had been shelved as a result,” laughed Doyle along with the spellbound audience.

The author was speaking at an open book club event in the run-up to the November 13 release of the third book of The Pataala Prophecy series, Sword of Fire.

Published – November 12, 2025 05:45 pm IST

Numeros’ n – First hybrid vehicles

Sudarshan Pattnaik’s show at Lalit Kala Akademi
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

On November 2, when Harmanpreet Singh’s team of 11 hopefuls scripted team India’s cinematic victory in the Women’s World Cup final against the formidable team from South Africa, something fundamentally changed in this country forever.

You perhaps discount the previous statement as hyperbole, yet the numbers cease to lie. An estimated 40,000 pairs of eyes were present at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. JioHotstar’s viewership on the day of the final was a staggering 185 million. Sharadha Sridharan, a BCCI-accredited Chennai-based cricket coach, says that through the breadth of the tournament, several fans including men who coach, asked her who would make for the best 11 players on the day of the final. “An interest like this has never been shown before,” she said.

Prithi Ashwin, who spearheads Gen-Next Cricket Institute in Chennai, says she has been inundated with calls through the duration of the world cup. “At least six to seven calls since the win this morning,” she wrote when asked what the response has been like.

Girls practising cricket at AM Jain college ground in Chennai.
| Photo Credit:
AKHILA EASWARAN

Stakeholders across the cricket fraternity have stated that there has been a sharp rise in the number of women playing cricket in Tamil Nadu, particularly since 2017. With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) setting up academies and sponsoring players and their coaching, cricket is now a viable career option for many aspiring women who have set their sights on the Indian jersey.

What resource crunch?

According to data from the TNCA, there has been a 38% increase in the number of women who have appeared for selections from the 2022-2023 (472 across districts) season till the latest 2025-2026 season (770). Although there was a drop in the 2024-2025 numbers from 725 to 700, it picked up again this year.

It was 2017 that sowed the seeds of this nation-wide rise though. That year, the Indian team which reached the final against England at the Lord’s, suffered a nine-wicket loss. Yet, they captured the imagination of a number of Indians who finally acknowledged women playing professional cricket. “The following summer, in 2018, we noticed a clear uptick. Our summer camp that year had more girls registering than ever before. It felt like a movement was quietly taking shape. The pandemic paused things for a while, but from 2021 onwards, we’ve seen steady momentum again. What’s beautiful now is that the interest isn’t just from older teenagers chasing State caps. We’re seeing younger age groups, even eight-year-old girls walking in with their parents. That’s where the future of women’s cricket truly lies,” says Prithi.

The subsequent conduct of the Women’s Premier League in 2023 helped cement this movement even though it was subject to immense trolling in its first edition.

A woman practising cricket at AM Jain college ground in Chennai.
| Photo Credit:
AKHILA EASWARAN

Selectors on board, including former Indian captain Sudha Shah, say that there was once a time when people had no idea about the team having reached the finals in 2005 in South Africa. Now though, times have changed and the selection pool of players has increased. Earlier, elimination was the name of the game. “Now however, quality players from across Tamil Nadu, are being scouted for. The competition is tough. It is no longer a simple team to put together,” she says.

Aarti Sankaran, who has coached teams across age categories including the under 15, 19 and 23, says that she is mostly excited to see the proliferation of the sport from the districts. That is where much of the talent is from, she says, adding that teams from places like Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Madurai and Salem, have proven to have extraordinary talent as shown in the TNCA inter-district tournaments that usually doubles up as a talent scouting programme. Much of today’s State girls team comprises young women from the district.

Bhagwandas Rao, newly appointed secretary of the TNCA, says that the association has been in the process of conducting well-functioning and quality infrastructure at their satellite campuses in Tiruppur, Madurai, Theni, and Tiruchi, as well as residential facilities in Natham and Salem. “This is besides our ground here in Chennai and a top-notch gym that we have constructed here. The aim is to also amp up the experts including physiotherapists so that more people are available both during and off season. We’ve been hosting special camps for women across age categories where they are given a daily dearness allowance for taking part. Before selection to the camp, they can train at all the grounds and the nets at the above locations,” he says.

A young girl practising her bowling in Chennai
| Photo Credit:
AKHILA EASWARAN

Bhagwandas says that the intention is to align with the National Cricket Association in order to ensure that great quality is provided to players across socio-economic strata. Safety is central too.

Aarti says that some remote and newly formed districts might occasionally struggle to put together a team. Yet, it is just the start, she says. “There is pure grit and a need to prove themselves in a place where conveniences are not easily handed out. That is unique about the players from the district,” she says.

Niranjana Nagarajan, former Indian cricketer, who has also been mentoring young cricketers today, says that there is another important reason why many young women are taking to cricket. “It is finally a viable profession,” she says, adding that there is money to be made in the WPL now too. Those who do well are absorbed by the Central and State governments too, she says.

Looking ahead

Currently, the roster of promising players include the likes of G Kamalini, S Anusha, and Akshara Srinivasan.

Bhagwandas says that the aim is to increase momentum so that there is more representation of Tamil Nadu in the Zonal and National teams. “But before that, ensure that your children join your neighbourhood cricket academies so they start young,” he says.

In order to do so, both Sudha Shah and Aarthi suggest that coaching begin at the school-level and special exceptions be given to children, particularly girls, who want to pursue this as a career.

TNCA’s gym at their Madurai facility
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

It is also imperative to support promising players who come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to ensure that the sport, often dubbed deeply expensive, is accessible to talent too.

Prithi suggests that having some structural changes including more tournaments and avenues for women to play, will help aid not just their game but also their income. “The ecosystem for men’s cricket is also far more financially structured. A boy playing even fourth or fifth division cricket can earn a match fee. A man playing first division cricket can get full time employment. For girls, that pathway barely exists right now. That is why this World Cup win feels so crucial. It is not just about inspiring players, but also parents, academies and administrators to build a pipeline and create equal opportunities,” she adds.

Published – November 12, 2025 03:56 pm IST

Mottu in a scene from the film
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Bonding with books
| Photo Credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR

Co-founders of Ekaa, restaurateur Sagar Neve, and Chef Niyati Rao
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Art Mumbai, now in its third edition, which will be held from November 14 to 16, has become a key fixture on the city’s annual cultural calendar. It has given Mumbai a large-scale, focussed platform that brings together the city’s creative community, collectors, and galleries under one roof.

Beyond numbers — how much art was sold or how many people visited — Art Mumbai’s contribution lies in its ability to restore momentum to the city’s cultural conversation. It has reintroduced art into the public imagination as something to be experienced, discussed and collected. Through talks, walkthroughs, and interactive sessions, the fair bridges the gap between the business of art and its appreciation.

The space from last year’s edition
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

For this year’s edition, Conor Macklin, co-founder of Art Mumbai and director of Grosvenor Gallery, London, and Nakul Dev Chawla, co-founder of Art Mumbai and director of Chawla Art Gallery, New Delhi, share the event’s highlights:

International view

This year, nine new international galleries join the fair, bringing the total to 18, includingLisson Gallery (London), Galleria Continua (Italy), Sundaram Tagore Gallery (New York, Singapore, London), Ben Brown Fine Arts (London), and Leila Heller Gallery (Dubai). Their participation expands Art Mumbai’s reach as a global platform, underscoring how South Asian art is being integrated into international conversations while giving Indian audiences direct access to leading global artworks.

Revisiting Tyeb Mehta

The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), in collaboration with the Tyeb Mehta Foundation, established in 2013 to enrich the history of Indian art and culture, and is currently leading the 2025 birth centenary celebrations for artist Tyeb Mehta, and Saffronart Foundation, which endeavours to be a facilitator of projects that lie at the intersection of culture and social change, presents a solo exhibition of artworks by Tyeb Mehta (1925–2009), titled Tyeb Mehta – Bearing Weight (with the Lightness of Being). The show marks the centenary of one of India’s most iconic modernists and brings a selection of his celebrated series alongside early drawings and paintings.

From last year’s Sculpture Park
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

South Asian art in focus

At its core, Art Mumbai continues to celebrate South Asian creativity. Visitors can discover new talent through guided walks, explore off-site VIP programmes with collection previews and artist interactions, and experience fresh perspectives from galleries such as Experimenter, DAG, Akar Prakar, Nature Morte, Chemould Prescott Road, Vadehra Art Gallery, Gallery Espace, and TARQ.

The speaker series

As part of the Speaker Series, two insightful panels will unpack the evolving intersections of art, economy, and cultural leadership. Funding Futures: Investing in Change, moderated by Mukti Khaire, Girish and Jaidev Reddy Professor of Practice at Cornell Tech, will examine how Asian patronage is reshaping global narratives and nurturing a new generation of thought leaders and art practitioners. Meanwhile, How to Navigate the Art Market, moderated by Kabir Jhala, journalist and editor covering the art market and South Asia, delves into the inner workings of the art ecosystem — from market dynamics and legal frameworks to auction strategies and the passion that drives collecting. Both sessions promise to offer fresh perspectives from experts who bridge creativity and commerce, with additional insights from Dutch business consultant Kito de Boer, providing a view of how art, finance, and influence converge in today’s cultural landscape.

Ladies first

Set within the grounds of the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, the Sculpture Park this year is dedicated to 19women artists who are redefining the language of form and material. Participating artists include Adeela Suleman, Chetnaa, Madhvi Parekh, Meera Mukherjee, Natasha Singh, Poojan Gupta, Radhika Hamlai, Ratnabali Kant, Richa Arya, Savia Mahajan, Shanthamani Muddaiah, Shiffali Wadhawan, Tapasya Gupta, Sonal Ambani, Sudipta Das, Tarini Sethi, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Vinita Mungi, and Shambhavi Singh.

Building on the success of previous editions, the Sculpture Park offers visitors and galleries an opportunity to experience outdoor installations that move beyond the confines of traditional white-cube spaces. Each work contributes to a layered narrative — merging urban and natural environments, personal and collective histories — to create a reflective and transformative experience.

Art Mumbai returns from November 14 to 16 at Mahalaxmi Racecourse; tickets starting at ₹707are available via District by Zomato and www.artmumbai.com