As an upright, upstanding citizen of Bangalore, I am very much upset at Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) actions these past few weeks. Fustofall, I must tell you, I am not one of those people who go around always criticising the country. For your information, I am very proudest Indian. Everyday I am doing my ...

Reports say that, over the Diwali weekend, apartment complexes all over Bangalore and Hyderabad were invaded by gangs of costumed children demanding candy. Halloween, it seems, had arrived in South India. “I was forced to hand over 2 kg of Diwali laddoo”, said one agitated woman, “And they didn’t even sing carols!”. It was a ...

I have come to believe that we Indians are somewhat obsessed with hair. I cut my hair short a few years ago. Now, I always thought cutting my hair was an independent decision I was allowed to take, being an adult and all. But no. Apparently, I should have taken permission for this from distant ...

When I was a child, I was obsessed with Amar Chitra Katha books, especially the ones about saints and sadhus. I grew up imagining that I was also going to turn into one. I would stare into the mirror and consider deep philosophical questions such as “Who is this I? What does it mean to ...

I must start with a confession. I used to be an NRI. In fact, I’ve been an NRI twice in my life. The first time was when I was very young. We had travelled by space-ship to this planet known as the Gelf. It was a planet with no water and no cows, but Malayalis ...

This Mother’s Day, Brether’s Day, is all getting too much I say. Only last month, on June 15th, my cousin brother called me at the ungodly hour of 6.00 am. “Why you didn’t wish me?” he is asking, “Lalli, Paddu, even my North-Indian daughter-in-law Sweety and her parents are calling to wish me.” “Is it ...

Identity is everything in India. Every month or so, some agency or the other will demand copies of identity cards and address proof in triplicate, along with 5 passport photos where at least 20% of your forehead is visible. I recently switched from a pre-paid mobile connection to a post-paid one. I got a call ...

On the second day of the school term, Siddharth Biswas caught eight flies, killed them and peeled off their wings. He then opened my pencil-box and scattered their dismembered bodies, taking care to heap the wings around my new eraser. I discovered the deed soon after lunch, and promptly burst into tears. It wasn’t a ...

I was saddened to hear about the death of Shakuntala Devi, the maths genius, earlier this week. Her feats were many but what astounded me was the fact that she multiplied two 13-digit numbers in 28 seconds. That would be the amount of time it would take me to read out a 13-digit number. (And ...

That December, Madras had one of its harshest winters. Some days, the weather dropped down to as low as 27 degrees celsius. Schools shut down, offices decided to open late, and the earmuff sellers at T.Nagar were all but sold out. Women all over the city switched their allegiances from talcum powder to moisturiser, some ...