My Experiments with Time

The title may sound a bit weird, but read on.  It was a lazy night after an early-dinner. The news channels had found their new prey and were having a great time picking at the fallen idols, and driving viewers crazy in the process.  It's been a long time since I did anything creative, so I went hunting on my daughter's table (that is where all the creative stuff is treasured these days). Luckily I managed to find a black drawing pen in the huge treasure trunk. Being Janmashtami day, I sat to draw a quick portrait of my beloved Little Krishna. There was a time when as a child I adored drawing Krishna pictures, he is just so cute I would say. And as I grew up the lazy me moved on to Lord Ganesha, the flexible God who could take shape with just a few curved lines and strokes. The portrait was quick, but I didn't like the result. So I called the little art expert for comments. She looked at me with a smirk, and said give it to me I'll make it right. As usual I

As a kid, I always wished I was a boy, so I could choose any 'profession I wanted', go out 'where I wanted' to and return 'when I wanted' to. Being a boy meant living life without too many boundaries.  Today, times are changing, and I'm happy this world is a better place for my daughter. I hope she would be able to live like a boy rather than wish she was a boy. There are a lot of efforts being taken to allow women into every other profession and sports, to make places safer for women and to enable them to step out of their homes irrespective of the time. The theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’ meaning to focus on supporting and investing in women to make things better for everyone. Investing in women, be it at home or at work will reap the benefits not just for the investor and the woman, but for the nation at large.  Finally, a word to parents of young girls, we need not remind them that they will

"Coffee is happiness in a cup" read the colourful poster in the coffeeshop. Coffee that is hot, strong, and sweet is my cup of happiness I thought. Unlike tea, I don't have coffee everyday, so it's like a treat and has to be perfect to be relished. Good movies are also like a perfect cup of coffee, that can be an incredible source of happiness and positivity. Both can fuel our minds, spirits and passion. Last month, I watched two coffee-themed movies, 'Leo' and the Amazon series 'Sweet Kaaram Coffee'. On a coffee scale, Leo was too strong for me and sans the sweet. But there was no disappointment with Leo coffee (pun intended), as I signed up for it without expectations, just to accompany the little Thalapathy-fan at home. Action scenes with disregard for logic, having to watch the prequel and sequel to make complete sense of the movie and good music seemingly 'inspired' by foreign music is not my cup of coffee.  Fortunately, as I was recuperat

 "Chennai is a city, Madras is an emotion" read the banner; a popular tagline that is circulated mostly during August every year. 'How true!' I thought.  Though we use the term Madras much less these days, I get to hear it more in the month of August and more so when I visit older people. August 22nd is celebrated as Madras Day, to commemorate the day in the year 1639 on which the East India Company bought Madraspattinam from the Viceroy of Vijayanagar. And yes, the word Madras reminds me of the black and white days; the old tales my parents narrated of the times when they moved into this city and about grandma who used to call it ' Madhirassi' in Malayalam.  As our flight lifted over the skies of the city, I told my little champion that I would miss my city.  'Home is where the heart is, and my heart is always inclined towards Chennai' I told her.  'I am more Chennai girl than you are, as I was born here' came the little one's retort. '

  A few years ago, I asked my then 6-yr-old daughter if she would love to take part in a debate. No, she replied promptly. I was intrigued and asked her if she knew what a debate meant; she said she had watched debates on News channels along with grand-pa. ‘The participants behave very badly and shout at each other like enemies; I don’t want to be a fighter-cock’. This revelation was indeed an eye-opener to me as a parent.   As a kid, I remember my dad used to insist on watching the English news every night. There was a dual objective of improving general knowledge and vocabulary. The process of staying muted throughout the half hour while Sunit Tandon or Sukanya Balakrishnan read the news impeccably was quite a challenge. Nevertheless, we admired the beautiful saree-clad women and Suit-boot Babus for their diction and poise. They were indeed worthy of emulation.      Fast-forward three decades, and today Prime time is the most-dreadful time. Thankfully, there are dedicated news c

  I was watching a recent Bollywood song that is all set to rock the dance floors. If you haven’t watched 'Yentamma' yet, please do so to understand the background of this blog. The song stars Salman Khan, Chiranjeevi, Pooja Hegde and Ramcharan, which made me wonder if it was a Telugu song or Hindi. Note that I didn't wonder if it was South Indian or North Indian. For me it’s Indian and entertaining, and makes me want to dance. Now if you have watched it, you can’t help noticing it was so much like the Chennai Express songs, especially with the word ' lungi ' in the lyrics. At least the ‘ Lungi dance’ got the lungi right. Here, the veshti or mundu (traditional white/off white clothing that South Indian men wear) is depicted as a lungi . Lungi is a more colourful version, worn by few men 'informally or at home', but certainly not on an occasion. Thankfully school students learn names of Indian clothing religiously since grade 2, so I'm sure kids unde