Reflections of Passions

[Women as a person or social agency of power is invariably deified before she is valued and the methodology of her worship literally iconises her. This tale remarks on the domestic hierarchy and the control of female's life by the male. This story is collected from the former South Arcot district (which is now divided into Villupuram and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu) The title of this story is Anandayi. Anandayi is a Goddess represented by a face made out of flour paste, on a coconut that is placed on a pot. She has no specific form or temple of her own. Offerings are made to her at midnight, following the worship of the family deity. Men do not worship Anandayi. Tales about Anandayi are often recounted in clusters.]  A husband and wife lived in a place called Vadapaakam. One day, the husband who had gone out came back to eat his meal. His wife was then in the brinjal garden. She hurried in when her husband called her. Her sari got caught in a thorny plant. She tried to unt...

I must confess that dry economic topics make me switch off from a conversation. Yet, with China recently devaluing its economy, I inferred that this was the right time to read a book on economics. While the title ‘Accelerating Out of the Recession’ did not really catch my interest, it was the subtitle: ‘How to Win in a Slow Growth Economy’ which made a significant difference. Anchored firmly with exceptional research and outstanding advice, this book explains the magnitude and enduring nature of changes which have taken place in the global economy. In a tone that provides both education and entertainment, the book is enhanced with engaging examples which are narrated in an appealing manner. Their research packages business and historical lessons from The Great Depression and how to apply them during the current Recession. It shows executives how to learn from the decisive actions taken by companies such as General Electric, IBM, P&G in order to accelerate out of past dow...

At first glance, I must admit that it was the title ‘The Woman Who Walked Into Doors’ which caught my eye. I had purchased this book in 2008 while researching on a project about domestic violence. However, this book remained on my to be read list for several years. It is only recently that I finished the book. ‘The Woman Who Walked Into Doors’ by Roddy Doyle charts the life of a middle-aged Irish homemaker, Paula Spencer, who answers the door to find the police officer, informing her that her husband Charlo’s death. It is here that she recounts memories of brutal abuse at his hands. With a series of flashbacks, we are acquainted how Paula came to marry a man who tortured and abused her for seventeen years and how she found the strength to kick him out of her house. Narrated in first person through flashback as a defence, her elder sister Carmel speaks up by laughing at Paula for inventing happy memories instead of confronting the truth head on. Through the unsteady relationshi...

Jallikattu, the traditional bull-taming contest,  held as part of Pongal celebrations in Tamil Nadu between a man and bull forms the central theme of the Tamil novella ‘Vaadivaasal’, originally written by N. Kalyan Raman. The bull taming contest is named ‘Chellayi Jallikattu’ and takes place in a remote village named Periyapatti Zameen in interior Tamil Nadu   and is visited by two men: Pichchi and Marudhan from the neighbouring village in the east, Usillanoor. The title ‘Vaadivaasal’ refers to the arena where the game of jallikattu is played. The 88 page novella revolves around the happenings on a single afternoon and reports faithfully how the drama involving human emotions, pettiness, desire, magnanimity and camaraderie unfolds when the bulls and men arrive at the arena. With an old man as the central character, the novella talks about the death of Pichchi’s father, Ambulithevan, who had been gored to death at the same arena a few years ago while trying to tame...

‘I was 14 when we were forced to leave our home in Srinagar along with my family. For me, exile is permanent. Homelessness is permanent. I am uprooted in my mind. There is nothing I can do about it. My idea of home is too perfect. My idea of love is too perfect. Home and love are intertwined. I am like my grandfather, who never left his village his whole life. It was deepl embedded in his matrix: too perfect to be replicated elsewhere,’ said an emotional Rahul Pandita at the book launch of his book, ‘Our Moon Has Blood Clots’ in February 2013. The heartbreaking story of Kashmir has so far been told through the prism of the brutality by the Indian state and the pro-independence demands of separatists. ‘Our Moon Has Blood Clots’ is a document about the unspoken chapter in the story of Kashmir which rarely receives any attention. The exodus of Kashmiri Pandits: the Hindu minority in a Muslim-majority Kashmir which was purged in a violent ethnic cleansing backed by Islamist mili...

Black Friday The afternoon of 12 March, 1993 is the day when time stood still in Bombay. The city of Bombay had been rocked by a series of explosions which cut through the heart of Bombay, spreading terror and destruction over a period of two hours. These blasts occurred in some of the most densely populated areas of the city. Starting from the Bombay Stock Exchange in South Bombay during lunch hours, the blasts ripped through the basement of Air India building at Nariman Point, the Regional Passport Office in Worli, Masjid Bunder, the petrol pump opposite the Shiv Sena Bhavan in Shivaji Park, Zaveri Bazaar, Plaza Cinema, Hotel Sea Rock to the Centaur Hotel in Juhu. The fatalities included ordinary people like samosa and sandwich vendors, struggling to earn their daily living in densely populated areas outside the Stock Exchange and nearby offices. The book ‘Black Friday’ by S. Hussain Zaidi puts forward the chilling toll: 257 killed or missing, 713 injured leaving a city ...