Mid-August has its own kind of light. Peaches are at their best, evenings still stretch comfortably past dinner and there is just enough change in the air to make you notice the season. This edit stays in that in-between moment: something cold and caramelised to eat, music built around returning light, Mumbai after dark on screen and a novel big enough to carry you through the final weeks of summer.
Eat.
Meera Sodha’s roast peach with salted jaggery kulfi
At this point in August, peaches barely need improving. Meera Sodha gives them just enough: roasting concentrates the fruit, while salted jaggery kulfi brings coconut, caramel and a little savoury edge. It feels generous without becoming heavy, which is exactly right for an evening that still belongs mostly to summer. Make the kulfi ahead, roast the peaches when you are ready and bring the chai out afterwards.
Listen.
Anoushka Shankar - Chapter III: We Return to Light
The first track is called “Daybreak”, which tells you something about the mood. Anoushka Shankar’s final chapter in her three-part series was made with Alam Khan and Sarathy Korwar, moving between sitar, percussion and spacious contemporary production without losing its sense of intimacy. Put it on while the room is still bright, then leave it playing as dusk takes over.
Watch.
All We Imagine as Light
Payal Kapadia’s Mumbai is all fluorescent train carriages, wet streets, crowded rooms and tiny pockets of privacy. All We Imagine as Light follows three women through a city that rarely seems to stop moving, but the film itself is patient and beautifully observed. It is particularly good once the windows have gone dark and the day outside has finally quietened down.
Read.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
Kiran Desai’s first novel in nearly two decades arrived in paperback this summer, and at 688 pages it is less a quick recommendation than somewhere to live for a while. Sonia and Sunny move between India and America, carrying family, ambition and other people’s ideas of who they ought to become. Start it on a long August afternoon and do not worry about finishing before September.
For now, there is still time to keep the evening outside a little longer: peaches while they last, one record from beginning to end, Mumbai after dark and a book with enough room to disappear into.
