Loving right now

A list of Indian Link’s current favourites

Listen Read

We’re loving our re-read of Roanna Gonsalves’ first book The Permanent Resident, which this month won the Multicultural Prize at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2018, and which has been longlisted for the Dobbie Literary Award for first-time authors. The short stories in this work are about what it means to be an Indian migrant in Australia, but as Indian Link’s reviewer Salma Shah argued, they could just as well be about what it means to be Australian.

Now this is clearly different Bollywood film music. The Raazi album by music directors Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy tugs at our heartstrings with a patriotism that is subdued and nuanced rather than boisterous. Gulzar’s lyrics, Arijit’s soulful voice, Mahadevan’s cameo, Kashmiri couplets, Sunidhi Chauhan’s return to form, Harshdeep Kaur’s earthiness. The touch of folk. The pleasant melody and mellow vocals of Ae watan in both its versions and Dilbaro. Goosebumps…

Watch Eat

Trust Manjit’s to come up with this one. Chaat papdi cones. Yes, you read that right! India’s favourite street food, chaat, dished up in (ice cream) cones. It’s proving to be a great favourite, Karandeep Gujral of Manjit’s tells us. Let’s face it, it’s the daintiest, most dignified way of eating chaat. Additionally, its tiny serving size ensures you are not stuffed for when it’s time for the curries. Oh, and also each cone as shown here, is different in flavour! No wonder they call it Sydney’s most forward-looking Indian restaurant.

If you’re one of those who think classical music is ‘too complex’, we’ve got some great stuff in store. Meet Anuja Kamat, who’s trying to simplify classical music, making it easy-peasy to understand its nuances. Her videos go down to the basics of Indian classical, like explaining swara, taal, raag, etc Check the one titled: ‘On which raag is Ghoomar based?’ that references a song from the film Padmaavat. The 24-year-old has a YouTube channel ‘Out of the Shruti Box’ that boasts over 85,000 subscribers. We’re hooked, and you’ll be too.