I think writing humorous stories is more difficult than writing a heart-wrenching hundred pages tome. Only few writers could do that successfully. Wodehouse could write hundreds of novels which could keep you laughing for hours but he was one of his kind. In Tamil, Devan was very successful and his Thuppariyum Sambu (deductive Sambu was... Continue Reading →
Emden: The first word for which I learnt etymology is Emden. I did not know the word etymology meant then. My father used this expression, ‘He is an Emden.’ We could understand what he meant by that remark in a particular conversation. It could be, he was praising some colleague’s capability or someone who pulled... Continue Reading →
I wanted to write this blog last week to coincide with the birthday of Rituparno Ghosh (August 31st), an accomplished director of Bengali Cinema; but it also happened to be Krishna Jayanthi, the day Lord Krishna was born. So Krishna took precedence and the story about Ghosh's movie is appearing this week. The Tamil film... Continue Reading →
The Hindu festival season has begun which will run for about six months. The grand celebrations start in August for Nombu followed by Krsihna Jayanthi (aka Gokulashtami/Janmashtami) and ends in Pongal (mainly a harvest festival). Each festival is dedicated to a particular God and with 3000 or so Gods you can have ten festivals a... Continue Reading →
I have translated few of Sujatha's short stories here including his best short story Nagaram – City – Sujatha. I selected this story for only one reason. I grew up near Ayodya Mandapam in West Mambalm. We used to go there for religious discourses when we were students. Also during the music sesaon in winter (if... Continue Reading →
Siddhas- சித்தர்கள் - were intellectual people, born in present day Tamil Nadu and known to who have attained mukti or nirvana. Not just philosophers, they also wrote about science, medicine, arts, literature and many other subjects. Some of their ideologies are considered to have originated during first Sangam period (4400 BCE). Sample a gem: காயமே இது பொய்யடா- வெறும் காற்றடைத்த... Continue Reading →
Avinashi is a small town in Tamil Nadu and lies in National Highway 544 (NH 47 previously) which connects Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Actually the highway is part of the North - South Corridor in the country. If you are planning to go to the Nilgiri Mountains (Ooty for example) from Bangalore you will branch... Continue Reading →
The first Independence Day I remember is, the 25th ID celebration in 1972. I was in Class V and as a part of the celebrations, the elementary school where I studied, conducted a debate competition for school students from nearby villages and I won the first prize (thanks to my teachers who wrote the script).... Continue Reading →
East West Airlines, ModiLuft, Span Air, Sahara, Air Deccan, Damania, NEPC; the list is probably much longer than this - (VIF Airways - does anyone remember this airline?) but suffice to say these are some of private airlines that went bust in India in the last two and half decades. My brother Mohan, sent me... Continue Reading →
