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Showing posts with the label indian

Sidekicks and other unsung characters

I am currently reading MT Vasudevan Nair's novel Bhima Lone Warrior. How I come to buy this book is a story in itself and I will get to it later but first I want to talk about what this book made me realise. I consider myself an avid mythology fan. I have grown up listening to stories of the fantastic beasts of our Indian mythology and the whole plethora of characters that feature our 'Mythos' (Thank you Stephen Fry!) I have been reading Bhima Lone Warrior by MT Vasudevan Nair and have been thinking about the unsung people we come across. The sidekicks and the people who came second. Remember the dialogue from the movie 3 Idiots? (No, go see the movie. Your life will change) Yes? Great! . There are stories about everyone in Mahabarat. Some are fascinating, some are humorous and some are huge lessons on conduct and living. . There is Yudhishtra, the first born who hogged the limelight in the #epic #Mahabharat and made some really poor decisions and there is Arjun...

Sorry no Sari

If you have grown up in a typical north Indian household like me then you would have seen women around you wearing suits. Not just the business kinds but the three piece garment consisting of a kameez/ kurta, a dupatta and a churidar/a salwar. Getting the cloth, going to a tailor ( over and over again) and getting the material designed and stitched has always occupied a major position there because those are, like I said, the everyday clothes worn by women all around, from my mother to the house help. They are worn to the functions- birthday parties, kitties and kirtans. Bollywood even sang a song to the suit wearing girl. But there is this one occasion where there isn't a chance for the suits or for any other garment to make an appearance. These are the shaadis, the weddings, the marriages where the silks, the pochampallys, the kanjivarams, the banarsis- read the heavy guns- put in an appearance like a chief guest at some sarkari function who soon after the initial formalitie...