Howzzat!

I feel drenched. This is perhaps the second time after Vairamuthu’s “ Thaneer Desam ” that I read a book on troubled Indian waters.  “The Hungry Tide” is penned by Amitav Ghosh, Indian by birth and going by his writings, Indian- rather Bengali- by thought.   Nostalgia affects everything. Our desires, interests, pursuits…It spares nothing. I love Ilaiyaraja’s compositions. His songs from the 1980’s give me solace whenever I feel alone and restless but I cannot equal the fervor with which my appa listens to his tunes. Some songs never fail to moisten his eyes. He has lived through an era in which Ilaiyaraja ruled over people’s senses.  His admiration for the Maestro therefore will always be greater than mine. And nostalgia is the same reason why the British classic “ Jane Eyre ” will remain my favourite book and I am reluctant to let any book replace it. I cannot sum up with words the kind of emotions that welled up in me when I first read it as a pre-teen. Whe...

The blank mind Resists thoughts  In fear of the known, And strives to remain blank. The spilt ink   Renders blank paper Useless. But I see  Through the eyes of Rorschach. The blank paper  Now stained Evokes interpretations Some vivid Some contrived Some blunt. The blank mind- Now stained- By thoughts, Pervading all space Makes room for doubt. Some sicken Some relieve Some persist. But the mind refuses  To budge And continues To strive To remain blank, and To outlast the fear- of the known.

Of course, Unobtainium is a figment of man’s (esp. James Cameron’s) vast imagination. The element is apparently hard to procure; is vital for survival of mankind; is expensive and man by all means will try to obtain it- even if it involves murdering hordes of fluorescent-blue skinned Na’Vis. (with reference to Avatar, folks) He's just showing off his bling. And happiness ? It shares most of the above mentioned characteristics of Unobtanium. Maybe not expensive for everyone and mostly, doesn’t involve killing (God forgive me for the ant-hill stampede the other day).  In our pursuit of ‘happyness’, we have turned into monks sold our Ferraris saw Kate wed William welcomed the non-monopolization of Maggi noodles. cheered the literal transformation of Kamal in ‘Vishwaroopam’,  watched Modi’s acceptance speech infinite scrolled our Facebook newsfeed. dished out 83 bucks to enjoy the “magnum” royalty. And there were things that hindered a...

“Kalki” Krishnamurthy is a master story teller with none to surpass him. People used to wait with bated breath for his novels serialized in Tamil weeklies for several years, just like how we wait to catch an episode of our favourite soap now. His magnum opus “Ponniyin Selvan” is a family-favourite. An historical marvel contained in 5 stonking volumes, reading it evokes an array of emotions ranging from romance to martyrdom and plays out in our minds better than any movie ever did, thanks to a God given gift to mankind called imagination. One of the many incredible aspects of the book is the amount of painstaking research ‘Kalki’ had put in to write the 2400-pages-long-epic. He is said to have read every piece of Sangam literature available on the era (upon which the book is set) and had even visited Srilanka a number of times to gather facts. No wonder all the effort has paid off so well – a gem of a book that is every Tamil book lover’s delight. It has been exactly...

There seemed to be a politician lurking in every student the past month. The Modi wave was clearly felt in KCT. Almost every student I knew voted for the BJP and each one gave a plausible explanation for the unanimous (!) decision. Modiji, et tu? ;( 10 Things I think made Students** opt for BJP 1.Modi can speak. Yes, he can! /*He doesn’t speak the way Ranbir Kapoor does onscreen. So I have trouble understanding his Hindi*/ 2. Manmohan Singh. Just look at how he's been called these days-   the puppet ruler, Sonia Gandhi’s spastic child, the silent spectator, solitary reaper (saw this one in Outlook), ‘mute-ant’ , male counterpart of twilight Bella,  etc..etc.. He has been the new posterboy of Santa and Banta brand of jokes.  3. Arnab Goswami … People believe he speaks right from the Upanishads.So hence goes the adage, "If one can’t duel  Arnab, he can’t rule the nation."  #RahulGandhikiAag 4. 3G…3G..3G . Not many had an inkling ...

Anirudh’s one of the rare composers who has made conversational Tamil sound more like music and it’s a good thing. His latest offering is “Maan karate” which has a sugar-and-spice combo of Sivakarthikeyan and Hansika in the lead with debutant Thirukumaran wielding the megaphone. “Maanja” has Anirudh crooning to his own tune. It is peppy and believe this- it is a love track. Karky belongs to the breed of “research-poets” still left in Kollywood. All his research on the Madras dialect seems to have paid off for the Chennai lingo is transliterated in style. The funky and the wannabe folksy “Darling Dambakku” (penned by Yugabharathi) scores with the brilliant vocals of the incredible but underutilized  Benny Dayal and ‘ kamli’ Sunidhi Chauhan. Anirudh does throw surprises. Non-Anirudh moments such as ‘Did- I- just- hear- a- flute?’ and ‘was- that -a- Sitar? ’ were aplenty. The Reprise version of the song (the same track with the vocals replaced by Nivas and Ka...