Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Poem: in these eyes lie ancient secrets: in The Madras Courier
in these ears lie ancient secrets (a riff on the film Roja) she tickles my ear with a golden brush i wake from my nap with a primal sound shakes like a jhimiki upside down thinks she’s game to ease my frown What does she know about my ears? This organ that she tickles so casually? these were the ears into which my father said we were going to Malgudi Taluk to see my bride these were the ears into which my brother whispered broken instructions about our first night these were the ears that my new [...]
Poem: Crows and ancestors: in Indian Literature
Crows and ancestors A crow, dead? Hung from an Indian elm tree, splayed like black shorts on a fickle clothesline, except this was a glass-coatedmanjha kite-string used to cut off of the competition during the annual kite-flying Uttarayan festival when the sun moves northwards towards Capricorn. I watched from my balcony through worn binoculars as white-cheeked barbets, rose-ringed parakeets, and purple-rumped sunbirds flew around this shiny black jungle crow dangling between life and death. I did nothing. What could I do, I told the part where memory met guilt. A few hours later, my mother appeared, distraught. She [...]
Poem :The price of tomatoes: in Indian Literature
The price of tomatoes the other day, Ma told me that she regretted not climbing Mt. Kailash seven decades ago then she asked for the price of tomatoes piled high on our dining table. when I told her that I got the tomatoes for half-off she smiled and I marvelled at how the discount on a hill of tomatoes could salvage a lifetime of regret over not climbing a mountain Published in Indian Literature Issue 342. Sahitya Akademi’s bimonthly journal July-August 2024
WisdomCircle: Mental Models
No matter what the field, there are three things that all of us need for success. The first and the foundational factor is content, by which I mean talent, knowledge, expertise, rigour, all of these that each of us have learned and cultivated since childhood in our chosen field. The second is attitude, which is the set of character traits that each of us have, either through genetics, through how we were parented, or because of the circumstances of our particular life. The third factor is projection, which has become increasingly important in this digital age. It refers to how comfortable we are with being well-known, either in our chosen field or adjacent ones.
Hindustan Times: Inclusion
How did the MacArthur Foundation with an annual budget of about $160 million, a staff of around 250 people and a jury of about a dozen become so spectacularly inclusive not just in terms of gender parity but also in every other domain? The answer is both obvious and very hard to achieve: by acknowledging their bias, and actively seeking to overcome it.
Hindustan Times: Show your love
An uncle passed away. At his funeral and subsequent days, I witnessed an outpouring of love and from his family, relatives, people he mentored and neighbours. All of which led me to wonder about the age-old question: what will your obituary say? What will people say about you after you are gone? What will they speak about at your memorial service? Which is another way of asking: who are you and what do you project to the world?
Hindustan Times: Secret Bangalore
To write this, I asked a few old and new Bangaloreans for suggestions of where to go and what to do. Here below is a list of “Secret Bangalore” suggestions, in honour of India’s 75th Republic Day. They include chaats to masalas to juices. Thank you Sowmya Nandan, Naresh Narasimhan, Vishal Nagpal and Jay Bhow.
Hindustan Times: Self-care
How to help your diabetes. How to help with your body pains. How to figure out your posture and gait. I talk to three Bangalore experts on these topics. Small things you can do.
WisdomCircle: New Year Resolutions
We all need to change, adapt, and evolve in order to survive and thrive. I have been thinking a lot about this particularly in the context of New Year resolutions. Here then are 10 suggestions.
Hindustan Times: Buying happiness
This column got me thinking about happiness and whether it was possible to access it for cheap – specifically for under Rs.100. So here are some things that I have tried.