Vijee Venkatraman

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A Grandmother Remembered

...or an ode to all women whose labor -- physical and emotional -- was dismissed as duty. “Don’t come too close,” our normally affectionate grandmother would beseech us. (மேல படாதே, மேல படாதே was the refrain in Tamil.) Once she had showered, no one --not even...

S.S. Vasan, wife Pattammal and son Balasubramaniyan at the terrace of Gemini House. Picture Courtesy: Musings Archive.

Tales from Gemini Studios

Recently, my American nephew, a teenager, asked if we could visit Gemini Studios, the next time we both find ourselves in the old hometown Madras. I tell the American teenager the studio had stopped making movies even by the time I was in my teens....

A Film Buff in Madurai

We had reached the theater late that day. A temple procession on the main road made it impossible for our scooter to pass. Daring shortcuts brought us to the theatre a few minutes past the official show time. Fortunately, the show had not sold out....

The Future of Language

After linguist Philip Seargeant’s grandmother suffered a stroke, her thoughts remained trapped in her body. Although she had no cognitive damage, her paralyzed muscles didn’t allow her to speak or write. To communicate, she would point to letters printed on one side of a tattered...

In Madurai, City of Movie Theatres

Even a donkey that grazes exclusively on cinema posters would not have starved in this city. Madurai, my father’s hometown, was dotted with that many cinema halls! And the owners of the movie halls plastered walls of the city with movie posters to draw in...

Tampopo

There is a mom-and-pop Japanese eatery in the food court of a mall near me. Pop cooks the food; mom takes orders and serves the food. Mom never smiles. She speaks to customers mostly to tell them not to poke the onigiri -- or merely...