The Way We Use English in India
Had fun doing a review of this book. The “issueless” couple – who might they be? If you are thinking it is partners with no marital woes, a couple on some kind of permanent honeymoon,…
The Lady With The Diamond Nose-Stud
Vermeer, the Dutch master, was famous for his “Girl With a Pearl Earring”. In South India I am convinced he would have been pressed upon to depict “Lady With a Diamond Nose-Stud.” The middle-aged couple…
Meterpodu : A Work in Progress
Once upon a time, auto rickshaws in Madras had functioning meters, so the legend goes.Asking the auto drivers to turn on that boxy contraption today is like committing a small crime. The unrevised, state-fixed fare…
New Use for an Old House
If the preservation of a heritage building delights us, then we rejoice doubly when an old building is put to new use. Take the case of this 49 year old, two-storied bungalow in Nungambakkam that…
Not Arriving Shortly– Arrived
The poem was written on a sort of impulse. It was triggered by a comment I heard from a friend of mine – quite a culture-vulture himself – about another writer based in Bombay. My…
Unknown Bestsellers
There is precious little for me to do in Chennai anymore. Most places I liked in my old neighborhood are gone: the quiet corner of a temple with a cannonball tree, the store that…