Soumya Bhattacharya is the editor of Hindustan Times, Mumbai. He is the author of five books of fiction, non-fiction and memoir.
Articles by Soumya Bhattacharya
Buck buck bang bang: That's not cricket
It was such a relief. Such a relief to watch cricket (well, not cricket, but more of that in a minute) in which I didn’t have to withstand the despair of India being decimated. Such a relief to see the enthusiasm at the ground – exemplified, in particular, by Nita Ambani’s frenzied flag waving, writes Soumya Bhattacharya.
Updated on Apr 06, 2012 03:31 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
His success is entwined with contemporary India’s story of growth
One hundred international hundreds. Say it aloud. Slowly. And then think of where it puts Sachin Tendulkar — prodigious, peerless, generation-straddling poster boy of a sport that defines the world's most populous democracy — in cricket's pantheon. Soumya Bhattacharya writes. A-Z of Tendulkar
Updated on Mar 17, 2012 01:15 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Dead serious
What's so funny? Dour and touchy, Indians are quick to take offence and often find it hard to see humour in a situation. If only the British had left behind, along with a rail network, more of their sense of irony and self-deprecation, says Soumya Bhattacharya. Banned, banished, battered — recent victims of our 'offence culture'
Updated on Jan 29, 2012 08:43 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Not sleeping around
In India, books about parenthood tend to be written by mothers. They turn out to be either celebrations of motherhood, and the bond between mother and child; or they are wrung-out gripes about the (truly) tricky demands of managing home (which now includes the growing child) and the workplace. Soumya Bhattacharya reviews.
Updated on Oct 15, 2011 12:06 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Remembrance of things half imagined
Alan Hollinghurst speaks to Soumya Bhattacharya about his new novel, being on the Booker longlist and no longer being ‘just a gay writer’.
Updated on Aug 28, 2011 08:11 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Fare well, and fare forward
That moment comes back to me as I write what is the final instalment of this column. I shall stop because I no longer want to do it badly enough. There are, of course, all the usual reasons. Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Updated on Jul 16, 2011 11:57 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Coming soon: Memoir of a 21st century dad
Over the past five years, India has been changing incredibly rapidly. Today’s children, natural inhabitants of a digital world, are growing up faster, becoming more mature, worldly wise and knowledgeable than their predecessors ever were. Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Updated on Apr 17, 2011 01:23 AM IST
None | Soumya Bhattacharya
A proper cricket fan
The firecrackers started going off at 9.58pm. That was when Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi hoicked a full toss from Harbhajan Singh, and Virender Sehwag — keen not to drop the World Cup — took the catch with cautious glee.
Updated on Apr 09, 2011 11:24 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Five things we learned from the World Cup final
Despite Mahela Jayawardena's final-overs onslaught, despite the early losses of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, not once did the sense of purpose flag, writes Soumya Bhattacharya.
Updated on Apr 05, 2011 05:45 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Onwards to Mumbai
India were lucky. India were plucky. They held their nerve as Pakistan, unable to conquer their inner demons, spectacularly imploded in a dramatic semi-final, writes Soumya Bhattacharya.
Updated on Mar 31, 2011 03:10 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
All that we can teach our kids with cricket
I have never gone to a cricket match with my daughter. That’s because she follows cricket in a desultory way. Football is the game she is passionate about keeping up with, with tennis a close second.
Updated on Mar 26, 2011 11:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Five things we observed in the India v Australia game
Zaheer Khan was magnificent. Yuvraj has turned this tournament into his own. And with Ashwin clicking, and the fielding not as insipid as it has, the quarterfinal was India’s most rounded and spirited performance so far, Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Updated on Mar 25, 2011 04:59 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Five questions after watching India vs SA
The implosion of the batting and some baffling moves concealed a few promising signs for India, writes Soumya Bhattacharya.
Updated on Mar 13, 2011 08:57 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
The father-daughter dynamics
Of course, all men behave with their daughters in a way they do with no one else. You might disagree (saying that they behave with their sons in exactly the same way as they do with their daughters), but I'm afraid that we'll then have to agree to disagree on this one. Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Updated on Mar 13, 2011 12:44 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Five things we learned from Sunday’s games at World Cup
As the World Cup gets more and more interesting, India will have to adapt and innovate, writes Soumya Bhattacharya.
Updated on Mar 25, 2011 04:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
And they grow older
Sometimes, when she is not aware of it, I catch myself looking at our daughter carefully. It is during moments in which she is utterly absorbed in something or the other. Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Updated on Mar 05, 2011 11:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Five things we learned from the first fortnight of cricket World Cup
As the World Cup is about to complete its first 15 days, here are the five things we have learned from it so far. Soumya Bhattacharya writes. See special
Updated on Mar 04, 2011 01:48 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Five things we learned from India v England
Sachin’s lesson on how to pace an innings:Not that we needed this particular innings for that particular tutorial, but Tendulkar – in his sixth World Cup – showed us again why he is the most durable batsman of all time. Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Updated on Mar 31, 2011 02:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
For parents who care about the comma
Clark Whelton, who was a speechwriter for New York City mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani, has written a fascinating article for the Winter 2011 issue of the City Journal.
Updated on Feb 27, 2011 12:37 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
The next best thing
Be prepared," someone with experience in such matters told me. "It will come your way sooner or later." Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Updated on Feb 19, 2011 10:30 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya, New Delhi
What we learnt from today's match
All is as it should be, we have walloped Bangladesh (although, to remember 2007 - and other Favourites vs Minnows in non-cricket-World-Cup openers - we shouldn't sound so smug). But what are - as the marketing bozos say - our takeaways from this one? Soumya Bhattacharya writes.
Updated on Mar 31, 2011 02:55 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya, Mumbai
Parent or writer?
A writer friend who became a father a few months ago has had his writing life turned on its head. His rhythm is shot, and he finds eking out time difficult. He teaches at an American university, and he says his day job is hardly demanding. But still...
Updated on Feb 19, 2011 07:59 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Anything might happen
So there we were, my nine-year-old girl and I. In our ersatz Arsenal shirts, hunkered down in front of the TV at 5.30 pm on a Sunday, mouths a little agape in the manner in which all followers’ are when they watch their team play, waiting for Arsenal to kick off against Huddersfield Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Updated on Feb 19, 2011 08:00 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
It ads up to chaos in the drawing room
Given that some of our channels prefer to show a bit of cricket between the ads rather than some ads between the cricket, I watch the cricket at home with the TV on mute.
Updated on Feb 19, 2011 08:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Dead end: a new beginning
Published to howls of outrage in the US, the most controversial and provocative parenting book of recent times will be out in India early next month.
Updated on Feb 19, 2011 08:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Freedom at school
Trouble is brewing in a school near Liverpool in England about a 12-year-old girl's right to wear a nose stud to class. The school does not allow students to wear ear or nose studs to school. Parents sign up to this rule when they admit their children.
Updated on Feb 19, 2011 08:03 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
She mustn’t be liking cricket
Still rerunning in my mind images of the just-concluded India v South Africa Test series — for my money, the most absorbing Test series of recent times — I am forced to come to this conclusion: our daughter will not grow up to be a cricket fanatic. No, she won’t even grow up to be a proper cricket fan, I think.
Updated on Feb 19, 2011 08:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Resolutions that must be made
New Year Resolutions are made to be broken, but they must at least be made. In my case, if for no other reason than that they make knocking off this simple column (yes, I repeat, any of you could have written it) simpler still.
Updated on Feb 19, 2011 08:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya
Missing the point
Penelope Lively, one of England's most well regarded writers, won the Booker Prize in 1987 with her novel, Moon Tiger.
Updated on Feb 19, 2011 08:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya, New Delhi
Master class
Sachin Tendulkar is the most complete and durable batsman of all time. Whether he is greater than Don Bradman is a question that can't be answered with certitude. Soumya Bhattacharya writes.Praise pours in from all quarters | Mr consistent | Annus mirabilis | The one weak spot | Numbers tell the story
Updated on Dec 21, 2010 09:48 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soumya Bhattacharya, Mumbai