Penguin India turns 25 this year and to celebrate this, they have a range of quirky merchandise based on popular Penguin titles – so there are mugs (The Great Indian Mug, A Suitable Mug), bags (ditto), keychains, notebooks, diaries… I want them all! I particularly like the idea of drinking from The Reluctant Mug –… Continue reading Happy 25, Penguin India!
A library – again
My earliest memories of a library are of Murugan lending library in the neighbourhood of Adayar in Chennai where I grew up. This was my most eagerly awaited trip of the week, where I used to go with my father (and later on, by myself) to pick books. Comics, detective novels, classics – I devoured… Continue reading A library – again
Tamilnadu’s cradle babies
Remember Baby Falak? In a country where babies, especially girls are abandoned and killed every day, the story of the bruised and battered two-year-old girl is not really new or particularly shocking. Now leave Baby Falak for a moment and travel with me across the country. To Tamil Nadu, which has one of the highest… Continue reading Tamilnadu’s cradle babies
Word of the year
I am a big one for lists – I love making to-do lists (but necessarily the doing!) but rarely set goals. All along, I have been taking work as it comes without making ambitious and aggressive plans. No longer (I hope). 2012 is the year of the ambitious plans. So as a first step, I… Continue reading Word of the year
Chennai’s Margazhi Season
Come December and Chennai begins to hum with the start of the kutcheri (classical music concert) season, referred to in the city simply as the “Season.” It’s one of the largest music festivals in the world, with more than 1,500 concerts over six weeks at various locations. The Season attracts not just aficionados of South… Continue reading Chennai’s Margazhi Season
What are these ad makers thinking?
Microsoft tells you in all earnestness – It’s a great time to be a family. Watch this and tell me what you make of it… Here is a simple test for these copywriters – before you wrap up your work and get ready to sell it to a client, put a negative word in the… Continue reading What are these ad makers thinking?
On Kolaveri in the BBC
I am in a proper kolaveri about the way my story on the kolaveri song in the BBC has been mutilated – that staccato tone is just not my writing style. I have had journalist friends advising me to stop being possessive about my story once it has gone out of my hands into the… Continue reading On Kolaveri in the BBC
A sari state of innovation
I had recently written for India Ink, the India website of the New York Times, a story on the pocket sari introduced by Kumaran Silks a couple of years ago. It turns out that there is more, much more where that came from – the denim sari (the lady wears in the ad a belt… Continue reading A sari state of innovation
Chennai turns 372!
When British merchants made their way to the south of India in the early 17th century, they needed land they could claim for the East India Company. Merchants Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, along with their local agent Beri Thimmappa, negotiated with a member of the Nayak clan, which then ruled those parts of the… Continue reading Chennai turns 372!
Do-Re-Mi at Antwerp Station
I have a big smile on my face this morning. Not that I woke up smiling. I never do, el grumpo is what I am when I wake up. This morning, I opened my mail to see this forward – a flash mob dancing to do-re-mi at the Antwerp Central Station. Now flash mobs are… Continue reading Do-Re-Mi at Antwerp Station