It’s been a couple of years since I discovered a charming pattern to my train of thought during yoga practice. Twenty minutes into the practice, I’m in a beautiful state of mindlessness and mindfulness. The mind shows me flashes of random memories from years ago, even as it settles with my body into position. I’m at peace, allowing my mind to travel to vague, hazy images from the past.
Category: Non-fiction
Vessels of stories
I know vessels carry memories and tell profound stories, but I always associated those with ‘important’ vessels. I’m ever so amused that humble and nondescript vessels like woks and tongs and tadka pans are also candidates.
2020 in words
Words that I enjoyed writing and reading in this bizarre, extraordinary year. Wish you a new year that takes forward your learnings from this year and gives you joy, health and memorable experiences! Writing – mine Being a committed fan: In which I try to pack together my disoriented feelings about being a Rahman fan…
Free porn and the lives of ‘porn people’ and their fans: Jon Ronson’s ‘The Butterfly Effect’
(Written for In Plainspeak‘s November issue – read the original here) The first time I heard the phrase ‘Butterfly Effect’ was in Jurassic Park, when mathematician Ian Malcolm uses it to explain Chaos Theory: ‘A butterfly flaps its wings in Peking, and in Central Park you get rain instead of sunshine’. Can such seemingly disconnected events…
Food and diet philosophies
I’m standing at a Safal store, staring at their limited stock of fruits with utter dismay. I have apples at home. I also have bananas and pears. And papayas. I need another type of fruit, but they only have pomegranates, which I just had, and they have honeydews, which I’m not sure I should have…
Crimson Skies, Held Up by No Women
I swear I promised to not watch Chekka Chivantha Vaanam expecting anything because I’d been so disappointed by Kaatru Veliyidai. I resolved that I would not dissect the movie’s female characters. I’d heard good things about it, I’d stayed away from reviews, heck, I hadn’t even listened to the songs – I was expecting only to…
Alaipayuthey and the politics of flirting and marriage
It’s the year 2000. The first quarter. Trailers for Alaipayuthey are out, and so is the music. I’m 13, and my brain and body suddenly burst onto the stage where romance, relationships, attraction and pleasure are at play. Rahman’s tunes, brought to life by the stunningly handsome Madhavan, send me into a tizzy. The family…
My Own Little Singlish Dictionary
So long ago, in 2006, when I was a naive college-goer new to Singapore, I came up with this post on Singlish, the Singaporean form of English. This was written in only my second year in the country (I went on to live there for seven), and in the years to come, I would have…
Whose House is it Anyway?
I woke up with a start to some extremely loud (not to forget really annoying) Tamil religious movie song. Heart beating wildly, I opened my eyes and wondered what had hit me this afternoon. I looked around, trying to find my bearings, and realized I was home. Well, technically, my parents’ home. But still, home….