In the frenzy that follows a celebrity death or any horrifying end to a well-known personality, the Freuds, Sherlocks and Devi Shettys of society come out of the woodwork to voice their expert opinions. News channels and social networking sites are full of messages...
Many of India’s middle-aged have become the sandwich generation, taking care of their elderly and the young. But what is it doing to them, especially the women? It was in the early 90s that I came across an ardent ‘foreign’ devotee at the Sri Sathya Sai Baba Ashram in...
Devika Ramarathnam had divested her Marapachi Bommais (dolls) off their tattered clothes hoping to engage in some DIYs restoring them to past glory. She strongly believes that such dolls made of red sandal wood with its inherent medicinal properties needs to...
“Never criticise a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins,” is an old (Red) Indian proverb. Today in the customer care industry, we expect employees to be extremely empathetic in their dealings. They are taught to spout phrases such as, “I can understand what...
I have a thousand things to say to you and a thousand reasons not to… Are many adults caught in the predicament most effectively summarized by the above quote? Should we talk, shouldn’t we, on unpleasant yet important subjects to our children? What is the right age to...
A acquaintance is the youngest of many children. Like Peter Pan, she was a girl who never grew up. Sandwiched between her well-meaning older sibling and her versatile yet misdirected husband, she never ventured beyond her comfort zone. Recently, a mother who came to...
Revisit the very famous, A Letter From Abraham Lincoln To His Son’s Teacher Based on the above, here is my satire on Abraham Lincoln’s very famous letter to his son’s headmaster. A note to my Son’s teacher Dear Teacher, My son would have learnt by now that all men are...
When Basanti’s Mausi reminds the former to get mangoes for *achaar* in the film Sholay in 1975, she spoke for all the women before her and after. Mangoes have come to symbolize the coming of summer. It is the season of romance and abundance when everything is in bloom...
My story on Maavudu ( tender, baby mangoes pickle). It is said that the “precise location of heaven on earth has never been established but it may very well be right here.” I believe that it’s amidst heat, dust and mangoes. Our grandparents’ house in the then Madras...