Short Takes, March 2026

Short Takes on a play, Bouquets to Art at the SF fine arts museums, the Kochi Biennale, food and drink, and Frankenstein the movie.

Theater

All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Arthur Miller’s All My Sons is a play about ethics and moral responsibility in post-World War II America. Director David Medizabai reimagined this reckoning of the American Dream, from a lens of race, ethnicity and class, and Puerto Rican immigration to the United States. Jimmy Smits (whom you may have seen in the television series LA Law) and Wanda de Jesus (real life husband and wife, both of Puerto Rican descent) played Joe and Kate Keller, parents of Chris who returned from the war, and Larry, missing in action, who never did.

The play was inspired by a real-life report on business partners who shipped defective parts for fighter planes -- the planes malfunctioned and young soldiers died. At the start of the play, we learn that Joe was exonerated of the charge, and his partner Steve was found guilty. The revelations over the course of the play, and the discovery of a letter the Larry wrote to his girlfriend Annie, challenge these findings and leave us reflecting on what is gained when individuals cross moral boundaries for their families, and devastatingly, all that is lost.

I happened to get last-minute tickets in the very first row, and it was gripping to see Smits, de Jesus, the other actors and their facial expressions up close from just a few feet away. A powerful play, tremendous acting.

Exhibitions, Art and Floral

Bouquets to Art, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Last year I was gifted tickets to an extraordinary exhibition at the San Francisco Fine Arts museums, thanks to a neighbor who happened to be going out of town. It’s called Bouquets to Art, and for a few days every year in the spring or early summer, both the de Young museum and the Palace of the Legion of honor are transformed with extraordinary floral arrangements that are inspired by various masterpieces: both paintings and sculptures. The creativity of various local florists is on display. You can admire their choice of flowers, twigs and leaves, and how the arrangements mirror and pay homage to the art pieces behind them. In a word? Breathtaking.

Here are a few photos from 2026, and then from 2025. If you can, plan to go next year. What a way to indulge one’s love of gardening and art!

2026

2025

Kochi Muziris Biennale

I checked this out for the first time in March during a trip to India. My dear friend Lali came to visit from Kolkata, bearing news of the biennale in Fort Kochi. Neither of us had been and we decided to check it out. We took a ferry from the Ernakulam Boat Jetty to Fort Kochi, seeing along the way boats and ships, government offices, houses and hotels on the shore of the Arabian sea.

Disembarking in Fort Kochi, we walked into an old house with exhibits on the upper floor, then to other galleries and spaces with exhibits: paintings, sculpture, audio-visual arts, film, open air constructions. It is not an exaggeration to see we were completely bowled over.

One thing: it was so bloody hot. We roamed around in the afternoon in the sweltering heat—ducked into air conditioned exhibition spaces for a respite, gulped regularly from our bottles of water, and stopped here and there to enjoy the sea breeze. Finally, we repaired to O Porto, a bar/restaurant in a traditional Kerala villa, now a heritage site.  Carved wood ceilings, windows looking out to lush bougainvillea, and yes, cold drinks.

What is a biennale, I wondered, feeling a little sheepish at not knowing this. Well, it is a contemporary art exhibition, held every two years (biennial!), I discovered. So the next Kochi Biennale will be in 2027-28, from November through April. A different artist curates it each time, and there are artistic and literary events at various places in Fort Kochi as well as in Ernakulam at the Darbar Hall Grounds. Perhaps some day to the Venice Biennale as well!

Food and drink

Lali and I took my father on a little holiday to a lovely seaside resort, Nihara Resort & Spa in Kadamakkudy, about a 30 minute drive from bustling Ernakulam. We rented a pool cottage, so my father, who loves the water, could easily get into the pool from the back patio.

Two main thing discoveries to report from the wonderful experience.

First, Suleimani tea.  Lali and I went to the Riverside Grill and along with seafood that Lali enjoyed, they served us this lovely light tea spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, lime, presenting it as a digestive. After returning to the US, I promptly searched for a recipe and made some. Delicious!

Next, tender coconut pudding. It was one of the dessert offerings at the lunch buffet at Nihara, white and jello-like in texture. We lifted a spoonful to our mouths, and looked at each other with widening eyes. It was divine. Not too sweet, not to soft, and with the incomparable taste of fresh, tender coconut, called Elaneer in Malayalam.

We went back for a second helping, and then again for a third!  The next day, back in Ernakulam, we were strolling along Panampilly Avenue, when Lali spotted Zaatar restaurant. We went in for Suleimani tea, and as it happens they had tender coconut pudding as well. Once again, we were transported to heaven. Here is a recipe I found. I haven’t tried it yet. Tender coconut pudding, elaneer pudding recipe - Raks Kitchen

Film

Frankenstein

(directed by Guillermo del Toro, based on the book by Mary Shelley)

I had told you about several Oscar-nominated films in Short Takes January 2026. Since then, I have watched Frankenstein.

Guillermo del Toro’s movie is said to be true to Mary Shelley's book. Filled with sumptuous, striking visuals, it held my attention from start to finish – a tale of horror well-told, of unchecked scientific curiosity, of the unleashing of previously unimaginable events. All the while, it remains deeply sympathetic to the poor “creature” who not only did not ask to be created, but was “raised" utterly devoid of affection, care, love.

What happens to a dream deferred? To unrealized longing? To a spurned yearning for respect, inclusion? Frankenstein’s “creature” brings us some of the answers with horror and beauty.