In Madurai, City of Movie Theatres
When you speak Tamil to someone from Madurai, you will notice that they use the word donkey quite a lot -- but they will say "kaluthai." I don't understand their fascination with donkeys - but…
Tampopo
There is a mom-and-pop Japanese eatery in a mall near me. Dad cooks the food; mom takes orders and serves the food. Mom never smiles. She speaks to customers to tell them not to poke…
Crossings — How Road Ecology is Changing the Future of the Planet
Anyone who has crossed a busy road in a metropolis without well-regulated traffic, in say Mumbai, India, can understand the plight of a deer trying to cross a two-lane highway, in rural United States.…
Be Still My Beating (Tamil) Heart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMKbYQ7EAY4 Words by Lyricist YugaBharathi Be still my traitorous heart, This is heaven – inhabit it, In the spinning wheel of time, love is fiber, to be spun into yarn, O be quiet mute heart.…
The Madras Hedgehog
For the longest time, I thought hedgehogs were simply critters from British children’s books. But three different species of hedgehogs — living, breathing mammals — inhabit the Indian subcontinent alone. Of these, we know very…