The House of ‘The Poocha’

To be completely honest, it would only be partially true if I said that Kandan paved the whole path to fearless furniture destruction and free indulgence in other feline fancies for future generations of cats in my family. Because many freedoms are not given. They are claimed by biting, scratching, and farting on the oppressor's...

The House of Kandan

I was a little scandalised yesterday when I realised that Onam was just around the corner and I had no clue. After I looked up the dates and Aparna Giri reminded me to plan my leave, I started thinking about my favourite Onam story like I do every year. My parents are not big on...

Growing Up Yezdi: Memoir of a Petrol Tank Rider

Before assuming the duties of a perpetual pillion, I was a petrol tank rider. Seated like a little frog on our Yezdi’s petrol tank, I would watch the world zoom by unhurriedly (because potholes and proverbial crossing fauna of the avian variety). At petrol pumps I would get giddy sniffing the sweet vapours rising from...

Hospitals, Fossils and Meals

Amma is quite the social beetle. Her students love her. Local cats come to visit her with their kittens or cronies when she returns home after long trips. Random babies at railway stations leap at her with their outstretched flabby baby arms. The other day we found an extra Parippu Vada in a takeaway parcel...

Mount Saleem Sinai

Despite the large dimensions of my nose, I am not good at smelling anything. Except jackfruit. I, like the rest of tropical humanity, can tell when there is a jackfruit anywhere within a 5 kilometer radius. And once I smell it, I book my tickets and leave the country. Okay, no. But in 2012 I...

Strange Talk

Over the years many of us have been caught having conversations with random objects and living entities, real or imaginary and not necessarily human. My neighbours were chilling out on their porch when they saw my father walking by. It looked like he was in deep conversation with someone and because of the wall in between...

The Connemara Catwalk

So Gingi’s friend thought it would be fun to abandon a kitten at our house because we have been known to give royal treatment to cats. We did give royal treatment to our previous cat but that was only because we were all scared of getting bitten or gassed to death in our sleep by...

In Memory of The Poocha

What can you say about a cat who can never die? That he is psychotic. And extremely disturbed. That he loves sardines and tuna. And beetles. And Sushmita Sen. The Poocha was one of those gigantic ginger cats who strutted around like he ruled the world. He was so extraordinarily good-looking that Molly chechi and...