Trials and Tribulations by Fire

I am going to Thanjavur, yet again.  Never thought I will go there, so soon. But, this time I will stay for a longer time and return next week. I am not very thrilled. I have a lot of work to do. I am planning to sight see too. I promise, this time, I will take nice pictures of the Big Temple. :)  

Grew up listening to Kishore Kumar, Mohd. Rafi and listening to impromptu adda sessions on the neighborhood tapri. Have heard and wondered how people could talk so much. Not that I dont like to wag my tongue. I am tending towards being a megalomaniac, probably worse. Dunno what can be worse!  Anyway, of late, I have changed my outlook and have changed a few things in my life. First thing being, my way of reacting to people and stuff that I am not comfortable with.  I am in a new setting now. I like it.  Being caught in a rut suffocates me. I need to feel the vibrant energy of my earlier life again. I need to go back to being the person I was, when I migrated from the East. I had never imagined that I would settle down in Chennai, of all places. I had thought of Bangalore, never Chennai.  So, when I came to this new city, I was kind of thrilled, to be part of a new environment. But, at the same time, I had a deep contempt for the place. Several incidents kept...

Have always cringed whenever I heard my north indian acquaintances address tamils as 'kale kaloote madrasi', 'madrasiyon jaisi', or even 'ghaas foos khane waale madrasi' and so on. I grew up in Durgapur, West Bengal and did not consider myself a 'pure-bred' Tamil. I settled in Chennai back in 2002 and allowed myself time to take in the culture, environment, and food habits. Though I am not a great lover of Chennai but I do take strong offense when people talk ill about the Tamils.  Maybe the Tamil in me is offended. Let me cite a few instances:  An acquaintance often would crib about the lack of opportunities for her to get married. She claims that if she had been living in a place like Delhi or Punjab, she would have been snapped up, just like that. I have certain observations regarding that claim. I think to get snapped up, an eligible girl or a boy needs to have many more capabilities than simply being fair! This...

In a small village near Tanjore, in a non-descript house, a girl sat on a small moda, squirming, as she was subjected to a detailed scrutiny by a bunch of old hags and a man. The man wore spectacles, was in his late twenties and had no hair, or receding hair. The girl had just turned twenty one and had to be married off lest the society jeer at her parents for not performing their duty. The wedding date was fixed. The girl still hadn't mustered the courage to see the face of the man she would spend her life with. Good girls from good families didn't ogle at men. Certainly not at a man they were going to take as their Lord and Master. The girl and the man got married. He wasted no effort or time to deflower her. In a few months she got pregnant and delivered a health baby boy also. Now, her status in society rose. She became the 'saubhagyavati' who had everything in life. A husband, a son, and a fair skin. The girl, now a woman, had flawless fair skin. The man...