fickle, funny, flawed, gorgeous

Mrs N Everybody thought she was ready to die. After all, she had outlived her entire family. Lost her only daughter, aged 17, tragically to ...

Working in advertising and TV has taught me the importance of naming. Give something (a product/tv show) the right name and half your job is...

It has been a good many years since that balmy December morning when I left the comforts of my parents’ home in Chennai for the untold horro...

Tonight It was just a few hours since she had been married and the excitement from the wedding ceremony had given way to an exhausted lull. ...

Food comforts They had come to the country on temporary visas. But they both wanted to stay permanently. So when the government decided to m...

Those are images from last year's London Marathon which I ran in. I hope those taking part in next Sunday's Chennai Marathon will be...

Asafoetida - not the most fragrant of spices in my cupboard. I was never a big fan until I realised that it helps relieve indigestion caused...

When I was a young girl, I used to beg my mother for some curd. You see, we were always served weak, watered down buttermilk and never soft,...

For the last few days, I've been type-tied. A bad case of writer's block. There were several drafts but nothing published. Nothing s...

Good ads are about simple ideas and this one does its job well. However, I wonder if they paid any royalties for use of the Mahatma's im...

Last week's Outlook carried a cover story about Indians who are choosing to shun marriage and live life single. I've always maintai...

In the movie 'Azhagan', the hero Mammooty desribes himself as 'being like upma'- quick, unfussy and comes to the aid in an e...

I recently read transcripts of an interview with Gwyneth Paltrow where she goes into detail about her eating habits. Specifically, about her...

'It is an acquired taste'. I know they say this of delicacies and exotic food. But I would say the same of Horlicks. Yes, good old, ...

Speak this line out as you read it. Now stop. Do you know why you were saying the words the way you did? Why you paused when you paused and ...

I am a vegetarian. By birth. As opposed to someone who has chosen to become one for political or health reasons or simply because it is fash...

Describing this dish as 'pepper sauce' in English is such as travesty. For one, 'sauce' always conjures up an image of somet...

I have never been a keen follower of fashion, preferring to stick to bland, familiar, tired but safe choices. Which is why you’ll never find...

There's a new show on Channel 4 called 'Desperate Housewives'. It's an American show (what else could it be?) about saucy, g...

This is a great afternoon snack and it's so easy to cook. I personally prefer soft cheese (like Philadelphia) for this recipe but you co...

Now, this one is a crowd-favourite. Never fails to impress the guests whenever I serve it. There is a bit of frying, pureeing and grinding t...

There are plenty of blogs out there dishing out serious stuff (who reads them, btw?). My head is whirring with so much cerebral activity tha...

'Muffin top' - Spillage of flesh at the waist caused by jeans worn too tight

I am not terribly religious. But I do turn to God in times of crisis. Such as the one we are confronted with right now. Hundreds and thousa...

Amit Varma is an old colleague of mine. He is visiting the tsunami-ravaged coastline of Tamilnadu and has been blogging from there. His repo...

Camel river 

The Camel trail 

Camel river 

cornwall

I have long resisted the temptation to watch the movie version of one of my favourite books of all time. Until today. I watched Harper Lee...

They just don't make music like they used to.... Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time I feel alive and the world it...

6th December Is there anything more pointless than ironing? Have just been doing three hoursw of it and despairing at the depths my life ...

27th November My thougts exactly. Only better put. From rediff.com - November 22, 2004 On Diwali, the Kanchi Shankaracharya, Jayend...

25th November I used to be a hardcore Chennaiite. How else could I be? After all, I’d spent the first quarter century of my life in the c...

November 20, 2004 Never know where you'll find one, do you? Heard this little gem on the radio this afternoon. 'Youth is wasted ...

November 10, 2004 There was a time when I would pray for good weather on Deepavali day so that we may burst all the crackers and if my wi...

October 12, 2004 Coming home to India is never an easy experience. It is fraught with conflicting emotions that are often exhausting. I n...

Sunday, September 26, 2004 There was a time when I would look down on anyone who called themselves a ‘housewife’. The term immediately co...

August 25, 2004 I'm taking off this weekend. Just to be by myself. I did not realise how much I've been missing my company. When ...

24th August '04 The Chinese have 14, Americans a dozen, the Germans a handful, the British a prized few...even tiny Mozambique and im...