The Colour Of Grief Is Red
One of the top three entries of Bound’s Short Story Contest 2019
writings.
All
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Essays
Reviews
Books
Waking up to a new lullaby
The ‘Sing a Lullaby’ workshop has been connecting people across the globe through different languages and genres
A deep-fried present: The noodles roll
The noodles roll is a family tradition that has resolutely stuck to its birthday roots
Beyond the Filter
Can art emerge out of darkness, without the crutch of light? We walk across the boundaries of what we consider ‘civilised’ to what we brand ‘demonic’ and find that art is truly a label-less colour
The Sri Lankan Masseuse and Others
Jesus lived in the palms of her hands, she knew. He was right at the centre, His warmth spreading through the lines and calluses in her palms...
Sea Shrugged
It had been raining for the past five days, and Masilamani, standing under the asbestos awning of Pandi’s tea shop...
The Waiting
Alex Pandian leaned against his Bullet, shielding his face from the mid-morning sun, his wet back finding just the right spot against the handlebars, his body relaxing into comforting predictability...
A Thugee Life
On the trail of a most notorious gang of stranglers
What's Wrong with you, Karthik?
A deeply tender study of human frailty and our capacity for forgiveness
A Taste Of Love
Assamese film-maker Bhaskar Hazarika talks to us about his film Aamis and why a love story turning to darkness is a world apart from a dark story turning to love.
Senthil’s Last Song
He could feel the music travel through his veins like heat. It moved up from the roots of the earth, up his short, stocky limbs, to his hanging stomach, his well-intentioned lungs and then, spluttered to a halt at his throat. He knew he shouldn’t have swallowed that ball...
Theru Koothu
When differing dreams coexist in the same space, passion oscillates between the comforting embrace of the familiar and the beckoning arms of the unfamiliar, often coming to a rest when one least expects it. Praveena writes the story of Malarvizhi, a teenager in Chennai.
The Colour of Grief is Red
One of the top three entries of Bound's Short Story Contest 2019
The Swing
A short fiction piece that was published in Issue 18 of Open Road Review, South East Asia's leading magazine of literature and culture.
The Second Honeymoon
In the 25 years that she had been married to Subbu, this was going to be Lalitha’s second holiday alone with her husband. A holiday in S ...
Love Letter: On Stretch Marks
My stretch marks became a testimony, not of the fact that I have given birth, but of my own rebirth.
The Runways
Fatima Bhutto’s The Runaways has words that dance to a music of their own, with tunes that once you catch...
How Weightlighting Helped Me Heal After Domestic Violence
I have always had a tenuous relationship with my body. Its triangular shape — small face, narrow shoulders, wide hips, exactly like a triangle that escaped a geometry lesson...
Komorebi
A road accident unravels the many layers of love, anger and marriage, and of words spoken too soon or not at all. Komorebi is a love story of sorts, but one seen through the retrospective lens of guilt and regret.
The Hair
Praveena’s prose poem is the internal monologue of an individual exploring identity and sexuality in a society that sees and yet doesn’t see the struggle for this space, and how choice, often always silent, even in the smallest acts, plays out in everyday life.
On Rage, and Fear and Single Parenting
Six years ago, as I pushed my way through labor and felt everything familiar rush out from the inside of me like unregulated thoughts, I knew I had signed up for something I had no idea about.
Kuttiyama And The Boy Who Smelled Of Fish
The baby lay at the doorstep of the orphanage like a newspaper carelessly thrown by a delivery boy. The thin cotton blanket covering the baby was bunched up at the baby’s feet, naked arms...
The Merry Adventures of Harshbardhan and Gobardhan
Usually, in films, we are familiar with this thing called the ‘comic timing’. Actors who can successfully convert the funnies from off the page to the screen ...
Poongothai
Poongothai gripped the crayon in her hand like her brother had gripped the hand grenade two days ago. She wasn’t quite sure what she was meant to draw on that white piece ...
Neer
The sing‐song voices followed her like a string of cans tied to her feet; loud, unwieldy and humiliating. She could hear their secret giggles and sniggers, like they were waiting for a spectacle to unfold ...
Copy, Paste, Repeat
Short fiction on the theme of 'Yours Truly' for Chaicopy's April issue.
Matchsticks
Sindhuja felt her leg slip. She knew Marudhu had piled on too many broken bits of brick on her tray. She felt him strain under its weight, too, as he...
Aji
A story that describes a troubled mind that finds succour in a relationship so deep that it is hard to delineate the real from the imagined, where friendship is more unspoken than spoken and experiences more dependent on than independent of reality
The Act of Remembering
Lost stories of the Andaman Islands as historical fiction
Going Commercial
Making advertisements is a cumbersome process, say the city ad filmmakers, but one that they enjoy doing.
Raising the Bar
Behind the rustle of Kancheepuram silk in Chennai is a bunch of women aged 40 to 60 who defy cliches. Meet the women who deadlift 90 kilos for fun
Disc dance revolution
With Ultimate Frisbee, Bharatanatyam, and some hard truths, two women create pockets of change
How people with autism are finding freedom and fame in the creative arts
This year, their art travelled to Kerala for the Kochi Muziris Biennale
Bitten by the culture bug
Need a dose of recreation? Don’t look beyond the city’s tourist attractions.
Just desserts
Meet women bakers who ensure that every occasion is a truly yummy celebration.
Fighting fit
City women are fast realising the importance of martial arts and Chennai has quite a variety to offer.
In the city
Fifty years of cinema, over 1,500 films, a place in the Guinness Book of World Records, and still going strong—actress Manorama is synonymous with talent that inspires, unparalleled enthusiasm and the unquenchable thirst to constantly experiment with her films.
Garden of Light
On paper, this was a V-Excel Educational Trust’s Annual Day production. But in reality, ‘Garden of Light’ was a powerful prism for the sheer potential and its intense manifestation of beauty in the world of autism.
Sharp shooters
Hitting the bull’s eye with their air pistols and rifles gives them an unparalleled high. Chennai’s ace shooters talk about their passion.
Timeless faith
Mylapore is known not just for its plethora of temples, but churches as well.
Fast and furious
Zipping ahead with aplomb, Chennai's young racers are neither oblique nor abstruse about their passion. For them, it's all about the speed.
Daredevils
The word ‘fear’ doesn’t exist for them, and flexing muscle is a way of life. Chennai’s stunt directors talk about their passion: Planning a fight!
Tree's company
Nizhal’s conducted walks bring people closer to nature.
Viva reality
A Cuban artist’s brush with Indian colours.
The enigma that is 'Superstar'
Unprecedented speculation and expectations surround Rajnikanth's soon-to-be-released film, Sivaji.
Jeeva's lyrical frames
The young filmmaker’s untimely death has left film industry shocked.
Expressing hope
Nalandaway: A former corporate executive tries his hand at building bridges in a deeply divided community.
Potent rasa
A quest for the adrenaline rush of a good performance and the creative forces shaping it.
Love letter to Iran
A review of Kamin Mohammadi's 'The Cypress Tree'
Talking point: Conversations with Mani Ratnam
A review of Baradwaj Rangan's 'Conversations with Mani Ratnam'
Rhythm of Life
A review of Tulsi Badrinath's 'Master of Arts: A Life in Dance'
Year of the Weeds
Priviledge is a many splendoured thing. For those on the inside, it is a floating cloud that needs to keep its shape at all times, careful about other similar clouds it might meet in the sky, careful about what to let in and what to keep out. For those on the ...
Dissent
Volume 6 of the New Writing anthology contains original short fiction and poetry handpicked by Meena Kandasamy and Prof. Eunice de Souza features my short story 'Uterus'
