Lounge Loves: ‘Furious’, Pista Barfi bars and more

Bad Girls

Recent crime thrillers have followed similar, predictable formulas to catch our attention, but Furious was different right from the first episode. It follows a woman serial killer (the fantastic Lola Petticrew) who is a victim of child sex trafficking, and the FBI agent tracking her down, Alice Black (Emmy Rossum). Furious examines the killer’s history closely, how she has engaged with her violent past and how she ended up where she is now—murdering powerful men from her past. Black, a survivor of abuse too, also grapples with her trauma. What’s different about Furious is how it writes female rage and the relationship between the two lead women, leaving the viewers to choose whether they sympathise with them or not. And for dark humour, Black’s FBI boss (Quincy Tyler Bernstine) is wonderful and tragic.

—Dakshayani Kumaramangalam

Raising the Bar

How many kaju katlis are too many? For those addicted to this indulgent mithai, this is a meaningless question. But that doesn’t mean they don’t feel a twinge of shame as they reach out to help themselves to their fifth serving in an embarrassingly short span of time. So, it’s reassuring that entrepreneurs are giving this matter a serious consideration. The people at Pista Barfi have repackaged the sweet in the likeness of a chocolate bar, which solves two problems: one, you don’t draw attention to yourself as you pick up yet another katli from a box; and, two, you don’t have to share the treat. The one problem that remains, however, is the speed with which you may get through this bar of deliciousness.

—Somak Ghoshal

Our Daily Bread

A series of stale/expired products on quick commerce apps has made us rethink our choices for daily essentials. It started with bread, something we’ve been mindful of since the pandemic, as commercial brands made zero effort to measure up. A switch was inevitable, and we decided to return to an old-school bakery. Those living in Mumbai, will tell you about Ovenfresh, famed for its cakes. Their bread section is equally impressive, and includes sourdough and slow-fermented breads, that make for excellent sandwiches and French toast. The toasties also turn out well given their chewy texture. At a time when a pack of safety pins takes 4 minutes to deliver, some things are still best done the old way.

—Rituparna Roy

Wild Encounters

We’re a species that needs to control nature. In our daily lives, a watchful lizard or a wandering cat is cause for irrational fear and calls for extermination. Even an unruly flowerbed has to be pruned into submission. The short stories in The Greatest Indian Animal Stories Ever Told, edited by Sumana Roy, capture the fear, distrust and other emotions we feel when we see animals in “our world”. There are classics from Rudyard Kipling and R.K. Narayan as well as lesser-known beauties from Kashmiri writer Habib Kamran and Tamil author Sujatha. In their hands, how animals react becomes a meditation on human behaviour. At a time when we’re planning data centres atop farmlands and forests, these stories are a reminder that we’ve never cared for anyone but ourselves—and maybe we should change that.

—Shalini Umachandran