Kallola

- Coffeland News. Fri, September 12, 2008. - Bangalore Mirror. Sun, September 14, 2008. I walked into my parents-in-laws’ house one day, to find the kitchen and part of the dining room under siege. Warm and sweet-smelling, the vapours of steaming rice filled my senses, as I stood in the familiar aroma of my favourite dish. For a quick moment, I tranced back to a life I was married away from, just months earlier. As my husband pushed past to get the car ready for the long drive, my mother-in-law was already onto her second round of kadambutté . The sekala simmered away on the hob and the pandi curry came to a boil. As I tucked into the putté - my first involvement with a community I was yet to meet, my father-in-law wore a beam on his face and proudly educated me on what was to come. We were getting ready for the annual gathering of the Coorgs in the UK- an eagerly awaited event at home. For six long years, my father-in-law oversaw these re-unions, with my mother-in-law in the backgr...

. Aha! Got you there. Now, for the mix: A bit of movie. Four belles. And a lot of Bangalore. It wouldn’t work any other way. There would have been more of us, but hey! you can’t have it all. Not always. Why, we even had to make do with Arjun Rampal in a 2D 70mm format. And then, we were crazy enough to miss him in the flesh too!! Ok, we still don’t know how Rock On! starts, but by the time magik ’s reunion got underway, we had our own little magic working outside the cinema. Time, it seemed, had stood still all those years we’d been away, and yet, a city had metamorphosed. Here we were, the four of us, springing up with funny incidents at college, not allowing any to be forgotten. All characters – the poker-faced prankster, the ever-hungry foodie, the always agreeable rebel and the invincible bright-eye – well alive, it was a back-in-college-on-the-bunk escapade, as perfect as the richly iced chocolate cup-cakes we greedily devoured. But this came at a price. After my usual grind on t...

The Temple of Divine Caesar immortalized the greatest ruler of the largest empire in history, by inscribing his words ‘Veni, Vedi, Vici’ on the altar erected where his body was cremated. After he came, he saw, he conquered Imperial Rome, he made another conquest. A conquest as significant then, as it is now. From January, through July and every fourth February of our present times, an ancient verdict keeps our busy lives on a track that remains consistent - all eventualities calculated and logically catered for. This fascinating story begins in ancient Egypt, picks its threads through various civilizations, withstands many political deviations of the Romans and after a long period of sustenance, finally settles along a more stable course only in 1582. Three constants remained - the natural cycles of days, (lunar) months and (solar) years. And though our perspective remains largely influenced by the shape Julius Caesar gave history the way we know it today, a very mature civilization, m...