Freedom, an artist’s view

Just something beautiful which I wanted to share. Via the very-interesting Indian By Design blog, which I discovered recently, I came across this artist and her work. I  doubt I’m ever going to be able to afford original art, but if I could, I would love to have this one up on my wall. I […]

Dum da dum da dum! Carnival Announcement!

The 65th Carnival of Feminists is already up at Green Gabbro, do go over and read what promises to be a great collection of writing; I’m also delighted to announce - the 66th edition of the Carnival is being hosted on Yours Truly. This edition is due on Oct 8th; I will wait until 8 […]

Fanny Price & Fear of Poverty

I like Jane Austen. Though her works are placed in prudish English settings and her endings conventional, I like her complete mastery over the depiction of that hierarchical society. I also like her heroines - Elizabeth Bennett, Emma Woodhouse - who are just that little bit off-centre, even if they end up doing the ‘approved’ thing of the […]

Observations from an evening out

Last evening, I made my way to the BEML area near Indira Nagar, to visit someone who had undergone a minor operation. I was passing through the always-crowded Old Madras Road, when an ambulance started sounding urgently. The siren went off again, and again, and again. In India, of course, we don’t really have the […]

The Myth of the Full-Time Mom

I’m not a parent myself, but all around me, friends seem to be having children and coping with the challenges of raising children, often in nuclear families, with very little outside support. So, while I haven’t yet gone through the diaper-changing and losing-sleep routine, I have seen enough of it to appreciate how hard a job it […]

Never Let Me Go

Reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Never Let Me Go’ for the tenth time, I am struck by the quietness of the book. This is not a book with verbal fireworks. The language is extremely simple and easy to follow, like most Ishiguro novels. The narrator is seemingly just narrating a story, her story. Yet, it all comes together […]

Because Everything MUST Cater to Male Fantasies.

Also known as, How to show every other group in a demeaning way, so that a bunch of young, heterosexual men can get some kicks.
Props:

1 woman, a nurse, dressed in an impossibly short skirt (Don’t forget a nice slit at the back)
2 silly young men, just being men
2 hospital beds
A mobile phone tucked away somewhere, […]

Thursday Reads (3)

I haven’t gotten around to my weekly linking feature for some time, but here it is, for this week.
In the last few years, Naxalite activity has been prominent in many Indian states and getting a good amount of media attention. I don’t believe that the violence unleashed by the Naxals will lead to any lasting solution, even […]

The Cooking Dilemma

Some days ago, at a function, a distant relative was gently ribbing me and my husband as to who was responsible for cooking at home. Specifically, he was taking a few shots at my expense, that I must be ‘making’ my husband do all the cooking. Most of this was inconsequential small talk; I doubt this […]