MISFITS

 Madam Malathi - the name to me is synonymous with English. Yes she was my English teacher, during my formative years from my Eighth class onwards. Till I met her, English to me was a subject;  Wherein I had to score marks to successfully go to the next class. But at some point in a student's life, we meet a teacher who becomes a motivator.... simply by their personality. The way they teach, speak, their voice, tone, diction....or the way they carry themselves, the poise, their dress sense, the simple jwellery which makes a statement..... The consistency.... It is very difficult for a student to say exactly why they were impressed. When or why a subject suddenly becomes so interesting and enchanting.  Suddenly I liked English ...more than it being a subject...it became a means of expression... I found a beauty in English.  I started reading novels, poems, and relished the Authors' phrases, and the way they deftly handled the language.  She instilled the love of ...

 Susheela Raghavan....is no more. Sad that one of my  favourite teachers, is gone. To sum up in word....she was perfect in her work.  She was strict. Self reliant. Independent.  Well dressed. She was elegant with perfectly matching and mellowed saree with blouses typically tailored. Sleeves neither short or long, slightly loose at the ends, well pressed, so that they pointed outwards. And ofcourse those slip-on shoes. Her complexion was ivory and she conducted herself with the dignity of royalty. Dignified.  When she smiled she looked so beautiful.  Her son was the same age as us. So in many ways she was motherly to me.  Be it the painting of temple gopuram which I painted for her for our school drama, or my role as a dancer in " The light  of Asia," staged at Abottsbury hall at Teynampet. She paid and got me sambar rice to eat, and also scolded me when I ate it publicly as she couldn't afford to get for the other performers who were not from our ...

My mother was born in 1929. While she was studying in school, in Pudukottai, in Tamil Nadu. all the students [ no co-education in those days] were taught to sing and dance. My mother was good at and passionate about dancing.  But , in those days, girls got married early.  My mom got married when she was 13 years old. That put an end to all her talents. Soon she gave birth to my 2 sisters and me. When I was 4 years old she taught me  and my second sister , Nalini,  to dance. I had inherited her artistic genes. Dancing came naturally to me. Later both my sister and I learnt dancing from a regular dance master. His name was Natarajan. He taught well. We both picked up the numbers quickly and soon had our first stage performance in Mylapore Fine Arts Club in Chennai in 1968. I was 14 years then. Then we went on an organised tour to Nigeria in 1969, and staged about 45 shows. Then we did a few shows in Chennai till 1972. Later I joined college, my ...

I am an Indian at heart. I love my Country. But I am not patriotic. I believe that no piece of land is worth sacrificing a life for. Last night I watched 30 minutes of an old Tamil movie, “Parthiban Kanavu.” It is about the dream of a Dying Chola King, for the Cholas to regain and become the supreme power once again, through his Son. The Chola Dynasty was one of the longest ruling Dynasties in history, from 9 th  century to 13 th  century.   Later the dynasty fell, and sank into obscurity by the end of 13 th  century, to be overshadowed by the Pandiyan Empire When we read history we come across, war after war for establishing an empire, expanding  dynasty, leaving in its wake endless bloodshed and suffering and loss of life and property. This being the reason for me being non patriotic. It is quite meaningless to sacrifice lives, for a land which, anyway does not belong to anyone. The earth belongs to no one. As much as the fact that our own...

 I am an intellectual. I think, introspect and analyze. This habit of mine makes bonding with someone very difficult. Being overtly critical, I find it impossible to have lasting relationships. I found that most people have a very superficial thought process. Their talking was shallow, beliefs  were contradicting, and they were never in command of their emotions. They always blamed the circumstances, fate, people and anything else, for their misfortunes and unhappiness. They were not in control.  “ Don’t be happy that you are intelligent. You have to deal with every other Idiot who is not. “  This sentences totally applied to me. So I started withdrawing form people. My circle became smaller and smaller. Later I began avoiding people. I was happy with my being alone. But in my day to day life I had to interact with people: Something which I could not avoid. So every time someone  spoke to me, my temples started smarting in pain. And I had constant headache...

It was 1979. I was 25 years old. I had changed companies. So my headquarters was Trichy . My mother had two elder sisters, and a younger brother. My mother’s  younger brother lived in Trichy. We, in our community call them as “Mama. “ This is the same as maternal uncle.  During those days, relatives used to stay in any relative’s house for months together.  MY Mama’s three children, [ two girls and a son] used  to often stay at our house in Chennai, for months at a stretch. So when my Mother suggested that I stay with my Mama, I accepted the idea without a thought. I checked into my Mama’s house. He had married the eldest sister’s daughter. So his wife was related to me in two ways; both as uncle’s wife [Mami], and also as my elder sister. A week went by. And my Mami did not like my presence in their house. She started dropping hints. The breakfast was over , by the time I came to the dining table. The was not enough hot water for me to bathe. This was my firs...