Saturday Feeling: When cities make space for art

With the cohort of writers, thinkers and artists being more or less the same at the many art and literature events across India, location becomes all the more important, and probably the differentiator. Last weekend, Kochi’s Subhash Park, with its view of the sparkling waters of Cochin Harbour and Vembanad Lake, was a beautiful venue for Manorama Hortus—if you got bored of all the talking, you could take a walk by the sea. In Meghalaya, the cherry blossom season is the perfect foil for its Shillong Literary Festival, providing pastel shade beside a placid lake.

Perhaps the most vibrant yet charming venue for an arts festival is the city of Panaji, which hosts the Serendipity Arts Festival every year and will do so for the 10th year next week. There’s art in a riverside park, a barge converted into a gallery, a 100-year-old heritage home that hosts theatrical dining experiences, an old accounts office that’s the hub for film screenings, and a disused medical college building where workshops are held. Even an old PWD complex has got a second, less boring life—as a space for avant-garde photography. It’s this rather audacious imagination that makes Serendipity one of the most unusual arts festivals in the country, as we report this week. It doesn’t just show art; it actually gets artists to think about the ways in which their work relates to the work of others, and to the visitors as well as the residents. A chef’s work was considered “food” until about a decade ago, when Serendipity introduced a “culinary arts” segment. We now have chefs who think and work like artists, exploring the meaning and politics behind ingredients and techniques—and it’s probably also played a role in the restaurant boom in India.

The same weekend, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale will open, another first-of-its kind event that reimagined an entire town as a venue for art. Though the biennale has been plagued by troubles, its sixth edition promises a return to first principles with new curators and ideas. And keeping with the theme of vibrant cities, we have a story on the many Christmas markets in Europe and the goodies you can find there. And if you’re looking to start new traditions, read our story about the relationship rituals people create to keep friendships alive across time and distance. And as always, we suggest what to watch this weekend and bring you a round-up of the best of gaming for December.

Listen without tuning out

Traditional in-ear and over-ear headphones are built to create an immersive bubble but often, immersion is a liability. It makes us unsafe on the street and anti-social in the office. This is the problem that bone conduction technology aims to solve with tech that allows you to hear two worlds at once. For runners, cyclists, and urban pedestrians, the ability to hear ambient sounds like traffic, horns, approaching vehicles, or other people is a life-saving feature. The new OpenRun Pro 2 from Shokz ( ₹17,999) allows a user to be on a call or listen to audio while remaining perfectly accessible to colleagues, a family member, or the sound of a doorbell, finds Abhishek Baxi. Read the review.

Job uncertainty? Set clear boundaries

Raised in a culture that normalises gap years and celebrates risk-taking, Gen Z approaches job uncertainty with a different perspective than previous generations. Even as companies across the world announce layoffs and hiring freezes and slowdowns, younger employees continue to shut their laptops at 6pm, refuse to work longer hours and guard personal time. It’s a marked departure from previous generations who worked harder and longer to signal dedication and indispensability when the going got tough. Instead, Gen Z takes a more strategic approach, writes Geetika Singh. They have witnessed an era of volatility, which has made them aware of their skills and less risk-averse. They prefer to build a flexible yet long-lasting career that prioritises work-life balance.

What politics could learn from orchestras

Silence has become rare; not the silence of peace, but the silence of attention. The world is saturated with sound, yet hollow of listening, writes former Ambassador Nirupama Menon Rao. Diplomacy has become theatre, power has become spectacle, and noise has been mistaken for strength. What is missing is discipline. An orchestra understands this in its bones, and it is something international politics can learn from music, explains Rao, who is the founder of the South Asian Symphony Orchestra. When musicians from Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka and the diaspora gather in one orchestra, they do not bring flags. They adjust, and they soften. They begin again. This is what politics needs to do.

Why doing nothing is just what you need

For many, solitude triggers unease, irritability, even panic. As younger generations grow more uncomfortable with being alone, psychologists note an alarming pattern: Our devices soothe us more than our own minds do. Digital overstimulation has conditioned our brains to expect constant input. Social media stories showing friends having fun while you sit at home intensifies loneliness, while nuclear families, single-child homes and long work hours leave young adults without companionship. In a world addicted to stimulation, the act of intentional solitude can unlock clarity, writes Divya Naik and tells you how to switch off.