Naatil Evideya?

Is there a wrong answer to the mandatory question 'Naatil evideya?' (where in Kerala are you from) that one Malayali asks another Malayali when they run into each for the first time, in another part of the country? If you're from Trivandrum or born and brought up there, like I am, you may know what I'm...

How to wash dirty linen in public

Getting over with the disclaimer/Previously on the blog...: Pushparajyam Synoptics has been dead since 2016. 2016 was also the year I got married. But no, you nosey fucker. That's not why I stopped writing. 2016 was also the year I started writing at work which made me want to save up all my remaining brain...

Good Old Days

Do you remember the good old days when young(er) adults used to roll their eyes at unsolicited advice? Like when adult-er adults used to remind them that they’re in their twenties or even worse, late twenties, and that they should probably get married, and then went on to give well-intended career tips and pointers. Apparently not,...

Do They Know It’s Sting?

I saw a lot of pain on social media over the impromptu Chris Martin gig. People who don’t stay in Delhi anymore are regretting moving out of the city. People who have been to Delhi once in their life are asking themselves why they didn’t plan the visit so that it would’ve magically aligned with...

It’s Better Not to Spoil than to Put on the Hashtag of Spoiler Alert

A probably rainy morning in June, twelve years ago; I had successfully stayed away from watching television for two days and kept the newspaper at a distance. Achan confirmed my worst fears as I was about to leave for school. Malayala Manorama had pulled a Malayala Manorama. They had, for real, gone ahead and revealed...

The United States of South India

I know thousands of words have already been written by many a frustrated folk trying to protest against regional stereotypes and explaining how South India is not a landmass bound together by a homogenous sambhaar culture. Heck, there are more than three types of sambhaar in the state of Kerala itself. So, this is not...