The Blog
The Invisible Sharp-Shinned Hawk
From the newsletter Inbound (go ahead and subscribe now!). Pigeons abound in North Station; South Station doesn’t have an indoor bird in sight. WGBH investigates and finds that the reason is the BIRD-X Repeller, a small speaker that randomly plays bird of prey calls, which...
Read MoreMadurai is not just Meenakshi, of course
And so, I add the less-known myth of Alli Arasani, another warrior-goddess to the myth. View of The Taming of Alli The legend of Alli is deeply rooted in the cultural and political landscape of Pandyamandalam, with Madurai as its mythic and historical center....
Read MoreMy Aunt, the Matunga Mami
It is more than a year since Ramesh Mahadevan passed away. Some day his writings may vanish from the net too. So, I am going to put up the best of his writing on my site unless it violates some law or the other. To...
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Annaya’s Anthropology
Annayya's Anthropology by A. K Ramanujan Annayya couldn't help but marvel at the American anthropologist."Look at this Fergusson," he thought, "he has not only read Manu, our ancient law-giver, but knows all about our ritual pollutions. Here I am, a Brahmin myself, yet I...
Read MoreThe Young Indian Scientist’s Dilemma by RKN (1966)
(From an old essay of R. K. Narayan's -- from 1966. Not sure where it was published.) A young scientist from Madras, who arrived in New York only a week before, met me at my hostel and introduced himself as one longing to hear an...
Read MoreFrom Jejuri by Arun Kolatkar
Makarand Take my shirt off and go in there to do pooja? No thanks. Not me. But you go right ahead if that's what you want to do. Give me the matchbox before you go will you? I will be out in the courtyard...
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