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“Many people think nature is beautiful, many people sleep from time to time under starry sky, and many people in hospitals and prisons long for the day when they'll be free to enjoy what nature has to offer. But few are as isolated and cut off as we are from the joys of nature, which can be shared by rich and poor alike.”
― The Diary of a Young Girl
― The Diary of a Young Girl
“11
Good woman with striped bangles!
This makes me laugh: Mother who hasn’t heard
The village gossip thinks I am possessed by Katampan.
She has called the shaman to perform the dance
To rid me of this illness caused by the man
From the cool mountain on which peppercorns grow.
12
Good woman with the fair bangles!
This make me laugh: if the lord who brought down
The Kuruku mountain comes here, he is a bigger fool
Than the shaman who comes to rid me of the illness
Caused by the man from the high mountain.
13
Good woman with arms ringed with bangles!
This make me laugh: if the son of our lord
Who drank poison and sat under the banyan tree
Comes here, he is a bigger fool than the shaman
Who comes to rid me of the illness caused
By the man from the mountain of strong fragrance.
14
Good woman with the fine ornaments!
This make me laugh: if our lord with a wreath
Of cadamba flowers that blossom in the rains
Comes here, he is a bigger fool than the shaman
Who comes to rid me of the illness
Caused by the chest of the man from the mountain.”
― Shilappadikaram
Good woman with striped bangles!
This makes me laugh: Mother who hasn’t heard
The village gossip thinks I am possessed by Katampan.
She has called the shaman to perform the dance
To rid me of this illness caused by the man
From the cool mountain on which peppercorns grow.
12
Good woman with the fair bangles!
This make me laugh: if the lord who brought down
The Kuruku mountain comes here, he is a bigger fool
Than the shaman who comes to rid me of the illness
Caused by the man from the high mountain.
13
Good woman with arms ringed with bangles!
This make me laugh: if the son of our lord
Who drank poison and sat under the banyan tree
Comes here, he is a bigger fool than the shaman
Who comes to rid me of the illness caused
By the man from the mountain of strong fragrance.
14
Good woman with the fine ornaments!
This make me laugh: if our lord with a wreath
Of cadamba flowers that blossom in the rains
Comes here, he is a bigger fool than the shaman
Who comes to rid me of the illness
Caused by the chest of the man from the mountain.”
― Shilappadikaram
“The Maoists are not the only ones who seek to depose the Indian State. It's already been deposed, several times, by Hindu fundamentalism and economic totalitarianism.”
― Broken Republic: Three Essays
― Broken Republic: Three Essays
“To sow knowing that you will not reap is an old kind of love, and love has always been the best key for unlocking the future.”
― Holy Sister
― Holy Sister
“Interestingly, the drunkard-genius is a valorised trope when the imbiber of spirits is from among the upper castes. T.R. Mahalingam, the flautist, is a classic example of someone who was an alcoholic but whose drunkenness is spoken of with much affection. His genius eclipsed everything else, they would say. But Somu, the undisputed champion among woodcrafters, would never be given that leeway—his drunkenness is a defect born of his caste. This hypocrisy of the upper castes, and those aspiring to be like them, is insufferable.
Arulraj from the Thanjavur family had a different interpretation. ‘If they (his father and uncles) had extra money, they would head straight to the liquor store. Immediately, their mood would change.’ He was speaking in the context of how the older generation unquestioningly accepted their social status and the way they were treated. Alcoholism could also have been an escape from reality.”
― Sebastian and Sons: A Brief History of Mrdangam Makers
Arulraj from the Thanjavur family had a different interpretation. ‘If they (his father and uncles) had extra money, they would head straight to the liquor store. Immediately, their mood would change.’ He was speaking in the context of how the older generation unquestioningly accepted their social status and the way they were treated. Alcoholism could also have been an escape from reality.”
― Sebastian and Sons: A Brief History of Mrdangam Makers
Thurma’s 2025 Year in Books
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