Emo
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Karma? Or just good people?
It was the late 90s, and life had taken an uncertain turn. The economic slump in the US meant I was about to lose my job, and with my meager bank balance, I couldn’t afford the apartment I was staying in. I was worried—deeply worried. With a heart heavy with fear and prayers, I went… Continue reading
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Course correction
I am a strong fan of course-correction in life. Meaning, I am constantly looking at ways to become better. Part of it comes from the sense of inferiority complex I have always had. I look up to people who believe they are perfect the way they are, because that is something I can never believe… Continue reading
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Thanksgiving to nature and to life itself
The month of Margazhi comes to a close in a couple of days and Thai will start on Tuesday with the harvest festival of Pongal. Pongal and Karthigai are festivals specific to our State and the Tamil community. The rest of the country celebrates Sankaranthi, signifying the sun’s northward journey (courtesy of the Earth’s tilt,… Continue reading
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Clarity in chaos
I’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions over the years. When I was younger, I didn’t see the point. Then, they became the trendy thing to do. At one point, I rationalised that every day is a new year at a different start point of the earth’s rotation and so there… Continue reading
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Another year, lessons learned
This past year has been one of profound realization—not wisdom, for that’s still a journey ahead, but of quiet epiphanies. Small, yet monumental in their impact. It has also been a year filled with a deep, abiding gratitude for life. The year taught me a lesson that many might know instinctively, but it took cancer… Continue reading
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Chalk Powder Wisdom
Kolams are a Tamil tradition as old as time (as the cliché goes). Every morning, the women of Tamil households clean the front yard to make way for intricate (and not so intricate) designs. Traditionally, these designs were made with rice flour—a simple act of feeding ants, birds, and other critters while creating something beautiful.… Continue reading
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A Reunion and a Note of Gratitude
Is it possible for your mind to be crowded and yet blank at the same time? In my paternal side*, we are six cousins, three girls and three boys (women and men now, but you know…). My father had two brothers and one sister, all of them having passed on. Those that remain are my… Continue reading
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From Hoarding to Heaving
We are in the process of re-organising the house. This was partly because we had a ton of books – valuable books of antiquity and knowledge value (e.g. ancient literature – vedas, upanisads, scriptures, literature, grammar and art of India) – that were given to us by a collector, and were dumped in my father’s house, for… Continue reading
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The Adventures in Avial Land: The Finale
The Adventures in Avial Land Part 4: The Finale Shopping seemed to be rather an anticlimax to the day, but then, anything is an anticlimax given the experience of a few hours earlier. We live in an era of merchandise. What is good for Star Wars, Avengers and the Beatles is good for Guruvayurappan. The flea… Continue reading
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The Adventures in Avial Land: All in One Tiny Form
The Adventures in Avial Land Part 3: All in One Tiny Form I was being pressed into a diamond at the entrance to the main sanctum. But all that mattered was the sandalwood-covered face that stared back at me from a few meters away. My only thought was, “But You are so tiny.” You might… Continue reading
The Burping Bullfrog 