The Blog
Meenakshi and The Supernumerary Nipple
Legend says that the Pandya king, the ruler of Madurai, rejoiced at the birth of his daughter. She had beautiful eyes, like a pair of chiral fish. So she became Meenakshi, which is Sanskrit for “fish-eye”. The royal child had another physical characteristic, which the...
Read MoreVeet — A Brick
And the conversation drifted to sons who don't take as good care of their ageing parents as they should. The blame shifts to the daughter-in-law. The son gets off the hook -- old story. Which reminds me of the "sthalapurana" or origin story of the...
Read MoreA Writer Meets His Idol
At the age of 14, Dilip Kumar had become a wage earner for the family. They were members of a mercantile community from Gujarat. These immigrants to Tamil Nadu lived in Coimbatore and Chennai, the state's capital. The death of this father slammed the doors...
Read MoreFrom Controversy to Cure
Inside the Cambridge Biotech Boom In the summer of 1977, a contentious debate about genetic engineering erupted in the city of Cambridge, pitting scientist against scientist and citizen against citizen. An unlikely mix of science and engineering, politics, the space race, and urban renewal transformed...
Read MoreThe 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....
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