by Nigel Scotchmer | Sep 15, 2026 | Essays
(Taittiriya Upanishad, Shikshavalli I.11.2) Great India #1 Nanda Devi from the Himalayan Writing Retreat I have just returned from nearly a month spread between Delhi and The Himalayan Writing Retreat. The first morning I woke to the screaming chirps of ten green...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Sep 1, 2026 | Essays
A rambling on language, leisure, beauty, and the business of accepting what we can’t control. Some things we think about, some we ignore. And some are more important than others. Does it matter if we fight against the inevitable? Or should we just accept it?...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Aug 4, 2026 | Humour
Our newest columnist, Mewubis, lives in a dumpster, judges humanity, and bears a suspicious resemblance to a Greek philosopher who did the same thing 2,400 years ago. Only he wasn’t a cat. You ask me why I live in a dumpster? My friend, it’s my choice. Let me...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Jul 14, 2026 | Essays
Alfaaz means, simply, words. And words, read aloud and in good company, are the whole of what we’re after this month. On the evening of July 26, The Irony Club is opening the mic again, and this time we’re widening it considerably. It will run the way an open mic...
by Nigel Scotchmer | Jun 30, 2026 | Art
Nigel writes about his experience at an exhibition at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture – Ithra Centre in Dhrahan, Saudi Arabia. The View, by Rima Mardam Bey, 1983 During my visit to Saudi Arabia this year, I went to an exhibition of women artists...