What's the good name?

I come from a family where calling elders by name is forbidden even if the elder is elder by a couple of months only! If you were to ask me what my grandfather’s youngest brother’s name is I wouldn't know and he is my favorite grand uncle too! He is called Kunjitappan (Kunju + chittappan). His eldest brother is called Perappan and the guy after him Chittappan. The wives also follow the same naming logic and that is 8 pairs of names that we kids memorized by habit by the time we were 6 or 7 years old...More

Kexy isn't Sexy !

If you like words... just twisting them around, tasting them and licking your lips with them, then this one's for you.
A whole bunch of words are going to go off the board . You won't find them in any dictionary anymore and only you can save them . Dont laugh, but some of them are absolutely delicious. Throw them at Mr. Know-it-all at the desk down the corridor and watch his face stumble!

Even Tributes have a place in Community Web Sites

And when we posted the news of his death on the neighbourhood web site - arcotroadtimes.com - we never expected a stream of reaction to follow, some severe, some poetic, some numbing. Many of them posted by Padma Seshadri students and alumni - for Arjun was a PSBB alumni...More

Phal-e-lluiah!

Isn't she magnificent? No wonder Phalaenopsis are prized all over the world. I haven't seen many of them in Mumbai and the rare few in the nurseries seem to cost almost as much as the land...More

Remembering Appan

We gathered at Olavipe this March 28 to commemorate Appan.’s 50th death anniversary – his descendants, relatives and friends, and the local people. Not many who were present for the function that day knew Appan personally. But they had heard of him...More

Troubles of my life

My computer seems to be suffering from Alzheimer's. I use this very nifty OS called Puppy Linux, which works like a dream on every computer that I own, but of late refuses to recall any of my usernames or passwords on the one that I use at home. I strongly suspect one of my sons to have fiddled with the settings...More

Barack Obama's Prague Speech

This looked like one rock concert! A huge flag-waving cheering crowd, some 25,000 or so, of Czech nationals in Prague yesterday. It hardly seemed the President of the United States was speaking, and that too on a grave threat facing the world...More

Vote for BJP!

Why am I saying that? Did it suddenly dawn on me that BJP is better than Congress? (2 main National parties).Frankly speaking it hasn’t. Sitting far away from the election heat and die hard voters who may influence my opinion, it was easy to watch both parties impartially...More

The Recent Disturbances in Pakistan – Is The ISI-Army Combination Behind It?

It is very much possible that by engineering all these disturbances the ISI-Army is trying to send this message to the Pakistani mass that the elected civilian government is an extremely weak and incompetent one, which is completely unable to offer minimum security to the citizens...More

A "regular" checkup

A routine check up with your primary physician actually leaves you more in doubt about your health than before. First of all, you have to summon all your reserves to move yourself from the confines of your daily comforts to set up a regular health check up...More

General Elections in India 2009

Thanks to T.N.Seshan, the redoubtable former election commissioner of India, the candidates strive hard to declare their assets. Many candidates are multi millionaires apparently spending all their lives in politics...More

Some one actually foresaw this economic apocalypse !

Then came 1999, when legislators met to repeal this act. Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers called it a history act which will better enable american companies to compete in the new economy...More

Catwalk in Settum Mundum

I saw the Miss South India contest/Kerala in TV today. I have nothing against seeing beautiful girls in pretty costumes. But this one was a comedy show.None of the contestants could talk proper Malayalam or proper English...More

Project Why needs help!

I ask you to donate Just One Rupee A Day to Project WHY. What is this?
It is an initiative of pWHY where they make it possible for even the poorest in India to contribute and make a difference. It is only Rs. 365 a year. Less than what you would spend on a decent dinner. Less than a movie for your family at that multiplex. Less than a pair of shoes!..More

Joly 20th 1969>39 years ago

The street was full of activity when we got there, as a retail market place where carts and lorries from various other smaller towns had congregated to collect their quotas of commodities. Tamil and Malayalam were freely used, with a smatter of the special ‘rowther’..More

My Flights of Fantasy

Not me, I was not horrified. These were Painted Storks and Pelicans. Their wide spread wings, the sounds of the flapping of their wings would set my heart in a rush..More

Russel Viper or Krait?

Now, please read the article below, and tell me which snake do you think that is...More

The Carrierwalla

Let me remember the carrierwallas who have helped us bring fresh food, sometimes still steaming, to our workplaces. “Carrier-wallas” would pick up the lunchboxes from homes and deliver them to the desk...More

My World: The Ocean Baths

I've seen lots of photographs
Of the filthy rich submerging
In swimming-pools set in the sea,
And glamorously emerging!...More

Celebrating the Kumbalgarh-A celebration of passions

When you are in a room with ten achievers speaking about their lives and ideas that build their lives, you are stuck with one thought - that they think with their hearts and not their brains...More

Musing On

The little boys are lost in their game. At this very moment it is all that matters. The only aim is to try and win...More

Election and Election

I agree that varun has given a bad speech, but did he really deserve to be booked on NSA? Is he a terrorist? On one side we allow all the bahubali's and known dons to stand for election and on the other side we book someone under NSA for verbal crime only...More

My First Award!!

A special thing happened to me a week ago-A recieved my first blogging award, which had me delighted! Thanks, Nimmi, for the wonderful award, :-), I'm still smiling!!! As per the way things go, I think I'm supposed to nominate my own list of bloggers...More

Summer Sights And Delights

More....

Abode of the Virgin Goddess

It is impossible to write a simple and straightforward account of any place in India. ...You have mythology rubbing shoulders with history. You have to consider politics, religion, culture, science and economics, each with its attendant brood of issues and points of contention. The past and the present are inseparably intertwined. You step back and view this lively patchwork, this teeming tapestry. And you say, wow. More

A Rescue Mission

Jithroo has a way with animals. Our pets love him, and the cats think he's playing with them when he goes about his work with a broom. Jithroo freed the bird - More.....

Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

Fascination for the unknown elements of Universe enticed the astronomers of India since long. Aryabhata of fifth century is the first of the astronomer of the classical age of Indian mathematics. And in the list of other eminent astronomers of India is Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur. More...

Pathi, pathni, and sruthi

For this same reason, I cannot sit and listen to Jesudas singing his own old songs on stage shows or other programs. He makes so many changes:) I dont mean any disrespect for this great singer. I can listen only to his recorded songs and Kacheri:) I keep saying he is singing it wrongly and my husband would just roll his eyes. . .More. . .

Dog Bytes

The main danger from dogs is their natural inclination to bite – and bites from dogs can be fatal. A friend’s son died because of a bite from their own pet. More.....

Beehives at my next-door balcony

The last time a monkey-harassed resident took the initiative to hire a monkey-catcher, an animal-rights activist in our block called in the Bhajrang Dal to protest. If I were to move the bees-matter at our association meeting, I might have SPCB squad knocking at my door - that is, Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Bees...More...