Kallola

Back in London for my usual holiday, I was revved off my jet-lag this morning, with phone calls from friends confirming that I was indeed in town. Talk went from the Kodava Koota coming up in September to the coveted World Heritage Site tag that some want for Coorg and others oppose, to the miserable situation of connectivity and why we all, in spite of being intrinsically in love with our homeland, cannot see sense in returning to it the way it is now. We spoke of the many resorts and home-stays that have come up and, how, while they are very convenient to visitors like us, rampant developments like these, would impact the future of our homeland some years from now. And how all forest cover might be wiped out soon, in the name of indiscriminate 'progress'. I was instantly reminded of a recent visit to my Grandmum's estate in Coorg where my little son hoppity hopped along the narrow pathways between paddy fields and rubbed his face on the bright red bunches of fresh coffe

To cry, or not to laugh... Deccan Herald. Sunday Herald, Cover Story. 10 June 2012 ~ http://www.deccanherald.com/content/255769/when-funny-isnt-funny.html A mong a hundred other things that keep me upbeat after reading Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam ’s Ignited Minds, the one observation that has left me thinking is the amount of gloom the paper boy throws over our gates every morning. You would be right in saying that our newspapers are really not to blame here – they are duty-bound to inform and make aware. From frivolous government policy and fickle polity to derailed wheels and separatist atrocities, not to mention exaggerated coup tales and related arms travails, there are a good 18-20 pages of distress articles to choose from every day, as company to the morning cuppa. And, yes, all these can have a direct bearing on our lives. But, just to ease the pain, what harm could one come to, if all front pages started carrying stories that are more positive and encouraging? Call me na

Deccan Herald. Sunday Herald, Cover Story. 29 Jan 2012 ~ http://www.deccanherald.com/content/222707/theme-dream.html I can watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins another ten times and be ready for more. But like my son, you might say, “ewww you’re such a guuuurl”, so no surprise there. Only, my husband still enjoys Star Wars, Iron Man and Voyager and will go to any re-release of them. My son and I would join him, as would thousands of others around the world, who filled up cinema halls to full capacity for similar fantasy movies like Finding Nemo, Enchanted, Twilight and apna Ra One.  And how many of you, with children at home, have accidentally tripped over a sabremobile or strongarm detached from a form-changing ‘Transformer’? For novices, these are fabulous toys of various built-in superheroes ‘cum’ robots ‘cum’ supersonic vehicles ‘cum’ long range weapons – virtually indestructible man-machines that can be transformed from one mode to the other depending on the natu