A Grandmother Remembered
by Ramesh MahadevanThere is something universal about all Indian grandmothers. It is almost as if they all went to some sort of an IIT of grandmothering and took the same courses. For one, they are always…
The Thousand Pillared Hall
Big grownups are all bad. ShenbagaKuzhalvaimozhi, the little girl with the long name, has come to this grand conclusion before she arrives at the Hall of Thousand Pillars. This is one place within the temple…
The Athai who Turned into an Ayah
In a 1977 black-and-white film set in Madras, a rich widow sets out to work as the ayah of her grandson – a bit like Avvai Shanmugi, except there is no big disguise involved. The…
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.…
Curiosity-driven research, curd rice and pickle
You may be familiar with MS Blue, the distinctive shade of blue, named for the legendary Carnatic vocalist M.S. Subbalakshmi, but now “Mas Blue,” is all set to wow the world of art. “Mas” comes from the…