I travel and read.
Book review of Perumal Murugan’s “One Part Woman” This book was banned in Tamil Nadu until the Hight Court ruled in favour of the author and prohibited the ban demanded by self-appointed gatekeepers of culture in the society. I found the entire ban thing ridiculous. Perumal Murugan has written a simple novel in a non-linear... Continue Reading →
That’s me, ready for the first snorkeling around in the Marine park waters We make bucket lists as we grow, and like a machine, we work towards fulfilling those predestined fantasies that we have made for ourselves. Where is the unknown in a bucket list? Shouldn’t the process be reversed? That we go out in the... Continue Reading →
Before the haircut After the haircut. HAPPY BOTH WAYS. I walked out the door, reached my room and did the weirdest thing I have done this year. I reached for my scissors and a comb, went to the bathroom sink, wet my hair sufficiently and cut my hair. It was not a crazy process like they would... Continue Reading →
What I learnt, ate and experienced. A Wat in South-East Asia is a Buddhist monastery or temple. Thailand has some of the most inspiring and grand Wats of them all. I began my Wat hopping in Bangkok. Bangkok is a crowded, intense city. I was overwhelmed by it. We reached Bangkok early morning at 5... Continue Reading →
Tonight, I would be sitting on a plane to Bangkok. This is my maiden trip to Thailand. I would be cruising on the busy waters of Chao Phraya, bowing my head in supplication before the ancient Thai Wats, and eating street food delicacies. I would visit the ancient ruins of Ayuthhaya, photograph the iconic Buddha... Continue Reading →
Remember when you were a child, and you pestered your grandmother or aunt to tell you stories at night? And they would tell you stories that had been passed down from generations in the family, stories that would vary from mouth to mouth and end up as a fable customised by the storyteller. Oral stories... Continue Reading →
And a review on the brilliant “Laburnum for my head” by Temsula Ao The home page of sahitya-akademi.gov.in Sahitya Akademi Award, who? Indian youth today rants on Oscar winners, and Booker prizes. But ask them about their own country’s highest academic honor, and they fail miserably. Ask them about Indian Filmfare award, and the reaction would... Continue Reading →
How beautiful it is when you stumble upon a beautiful thing by serendipity? For me, it was a piece of poetry by Wilfred Owen, called Anthem for Doomed Youth. I found it when I picked up this book, Regeneration. Pat Barker won the Booker Prize for the third instalment in this trilogy, “The Ghost Road,”... Continue Reading →
“Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe” by Fannie Flagg. We need to read books that talk about togetherness, in the time of He Who Is Too Disgusting To Be Named. Books that have characters who used to laugh and love their neighbours. Books that bring fresh hope for a life that can be... Continue Reading →
“The hundred-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared”. Wordy right? The immediate feeling I had when I picked up the book was that geriatrics would very well mumble something like that in general conversation. I became nostalgic and went back to a long lost rainy afternoon spent with my hundred-year-old grandma (umm,... Continue Reading →
Some bridges have to be burnt, some paradises lost. On a beautiful morning, you may walk on the edge of the lake and go searching for the bridge; no matter how obscured by the fog in your mind, your legs will grow eyes of their own, and you will land up in the broken bridge.... Continue Reading →
A review of the book by Paul Kalanithi, "When breath becomes air"
Inspired by Stephen King’s “On Writing: A memoir of the craft” “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ― Stephen King, in his book On Writing Many of my friends ping me on Facebook and Instagram with messages ranging from innocuous... Continue Reading →
A book review of "Boats on Land", a short story collection by Janice Pariat, a talented writer from Shillong.
Why things don't judge you doesn't mean you buy them more.
Beedi Queen 