In sickness and in health

Barbara had been diagnosed as depressive and was under treatment for the condition for several years before she discovered that she was bipolar. She signed up on a networking website and rigorously monitored her moods through charts on her profile page. It was here that she noticed how frequently her mood fluctuations went from being… Continue reading In sickness and in health

Tell me a story

Long time no blog. For now, here is a longish story I wrote for The National on oral storytelling traditions in India. I had great fun researching for and writing this story. To watch Jeeva Raghunath tell a story is a bit like being transported back to one’s childhood; those days of innocence when you… Continue reading Tell me a story

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

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

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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

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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

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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!

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Fading lights in Mumbai

These buildings in Mumbai could be ageing courtesans from another time and place. Faded, wrinkled, abused and world-weary, they are the old single-screen cinema houses scattered all over the city. Some still have the spirit to don the war paint in the hopes of luring customers. Others have just given up the struggle. At four… Continue reading Fading lights in Mumbai

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Vote in the name of love

This appeared recently in the WSJ India Real Time blog as Indian Political Party’s Unique Platform: Love *** Kumar Sri Sri, whose beaming face is still plastered across the city of Chennai on posters left over from assembly elections earlier this year, says his party aims to work for the “success of lovers.” In the… Continue reading Vote in the name of love

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