A history of mediocrity

Can you recall an instance from your childhood when your parents sat beside you and told you you’ve got to be the best at whatever you do? No, not just studies. Everything. Can you? I can’t. I don’t remember any such anecdotal event from my past where my dad or ma coaxed me to exceed my…

Critically devotional

The correct reply to “Do you believe in God?” has to be “I believe in stories with nice endings.” On a personal front, i believe in songs where God is addressed directly. No priest, thank you. The words expressed are quite bold. Furthermore, they sound like a chat you weren’t supposed to…

Last till the end

I’ve got 33 tattoos. There’s a Buddha’s face, Che’s too, Mowgli and Baloo dancing, a brooding Sadhu’s face, Calvin peeing, Tuarean bull — among others. I got my first one in 2011, soon after i became a journalist. Quotation marks (opening and closing) on the back of each palm. I thought it meant…

A laughing stock

What’s common to Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus, Paigambar, Nanak and Joker? If you’re baffled by the last name on the trail, don’t be. Now, answer the question. Can’t? Think harder. Still can’t? Cool. The thing common to the above mentioned gentlemen is they were all laughed at when they started out on…

Two shades of politics

If you’re the kind of person who waits for trains on a daily basis, there are two possibilities:

• you must have paid attention to the corrugated roof
• you’ve got better things to do with your smartphone

Teacher’s pet

That’s my amma on the right. The young man on the left used to be her student about two decades ago. They bumped into each other at a…

Pointless analogy

Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) is a fantastic film. It’s the kind of cinema that lays bare itself while doing the same to you. And when i say you, i’m addressing everyone who is a constituent as well as a beneficiary as well as a victim of capitalism. That’s the beauty of…

A little less noise

I come from a family of feminist. Not feminists. Just one. My mother. As far as i can remember, she always spoke up for the right. But the most admirable bit about her is she somehow (still) manages to balance speech with non-speech. In other words, she understood the significance of words as…

Bend it like Messi

Messi scored this magical free kick last morning and was trending on Twitter for the same. If you follow football, you’re already aware of his superlation but there is something about him that’s beyond the cheap thrills of bragging rights commonly associated with sports. For instance, he is…