Of words and vibes

  Mesmerizing circles, intricate designs, exquisite patterns - Mandala art is mystical, meditative and healing. The geometric designs, the repetitive patterns and the myriad themes of the Mandala captivate the eye and soothe the soul. The traditional mandala circles hold many a world within and all you need is a curious eye and an open mind to experience them. The word Mandala means ‘circle’ in Sanskrit and the Mandala art form holds great significance in Buddhist and Hindu cultures. According to the World History Encyclopedia, the earliest mention of the Mandala appears in India in the Rig Veda (c. 1500 - c. 500 BCE).   Mandala is an integral part of Asian spirituality and has strong roots in Jainism and Shintoism, as well. Its traces can be seen in Persian artistic traditions, as in the Ishtar Star Symbol from Mesopotamia. In the Tibetan tradition, Mandala depicts the enlightened state of Buddha through sand art which is created over several weeks by Buddhist monks in a st...

  Let’s talk about   women’s reproductive rights in US and India Abortion law is once again in the news. This time, the US Supreme Court has agreed to consider a rollback of abortion rights with regard to whether states can ban abortions before a foetus can survive outside the womb. The landmark Roe v Wade decision that announced a women’s constitutional right to an abortion in 1973 and upheld it in 1992 is back in the spotlight once again. The pressing issue involves an examination by the US Supreme Court of a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, except in a medical emergency or in the case of a severe foetal abnormality which is defined as a condition that is incompatible with life outside the womb. Meanwhile, a Texas Senate Bill, which takes effect in September 2021, bars abortion once signs of a heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy using vaginal ultrasound, sometimes, even before a woman may ...

Once again, I have tried to speak my truth. Take a look at a few simple lessons that the pandemic taught me. Published in December 2020 issue of the Together magazine. Click here to read my article in the Together magazine The Tiny Little Lessons that a Mighty Pandemic Taught Me     March 17, 2020. Just another regular, uneventful day. I get up, get dressed and trudge through work. I return home early because there are these uneasy murmurs of the distant Corona virus from China looming around the corridors of Bengaluru.   On my way home, the auto driver was talkative and prophetic. He said something about Modiji closing down the country which I hardly paid attention to. I was browsing through my phone. He even told me that the Corona virus was bio-war. He said this with a lot of conviction that I almost believed his conspiracy theory. For my part, I said that one has to wash one’s hands for fifteen minutes to get rid of the virus! Of course, that was incorrect but w...

I've been walking around the fly-over filled outer ring of Bangalore these days and all I see is people spitting unceremoniously on the pavement, on dirt roads, into water puddles and almost anywhere and everywhere. And to my chagrin, even educated folks flaunting branded hi-end fashion apparel walk out of malls, only to spit outside on the road. The situation is really, really awful. Spitting in public places is as bad a  health hazard as smoking in public, I guess. According to website SpitfreeIndia , spitting spreads swine flu, tuberculosis, pneumonia and gastro-intestinal diseases. The Indian Railways, I believe, spends about Rs. 1.5 crores every year in cleaning and scrubbing the spit marks, every year. I think there is even a law that prohibits people from spitting in public places but I don't see it being implemented anywhere. The need of the hour is awareness - people need to be educated about keeping their environs clean - for their own well-being and th...

It's been quite a while since I wrote anything in my blog. I've been busy with so many little things going on in my life. Some of them were just fantastic. And some of them not so great. Actually, when things don't go the way, you want them to,  frustration sets in. You start with denial, then comes anger and then comes introspection. You go in, dig deep and figure out what went wrong and try to make sense of it all. That's exactly the state I'm in, right now. It's like those American romantic movies where the hero takes long walks on the beach, sips sadly on a cup of coffee or glares at his face in the shop window (and the heroine eats loads of ice-cream and chips!) because he has recently had a bad break-up, while sad romantic music plays in the background. Coming back to my story, I am at a point in life where I am really questioning my dreams, hopes and beliefs. And I was seriously considering giving up on my dream and moving on to lesser, easily achievab...

For the first time in my life, I got to see a movie on very first show of the first day of release. Yup...I walked to the theatre, next door, got a ticket and walked in to see Ezham Arivu. Wow! It was quite an experience. The story is about a guy-next-door who happens to work in a circus and who also happens to be related to a Great Tamil Prince ,Warrior and Sage, Bodhi Dharma, who lived several centuries ago. Shruthi Hassan is the biotechnologist who seeks to revive the ancient sage's attributes in the young Surya. The movie has everything going for it from the word go. Good music, good-looking actors, lots of masala and loads of action sequences. For one, Surya is ravishing in his warrior avatar. Second, the cinematography is excellent. I was spellbound by the imagery captured while the young Bodhi Dharma traverses different landscapes as he travels to China. It almost feels like poetry on a large screen. Absolutely loved it. Same can be said of the melody and the picuturisation ...

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No...It's SRK with his Ra.One promotions. I am looking at the Ra.One promotions and I'm literally bedazzled. Is there anything that the King Khan has overlooked? mmmmm....nothing I can think of. From dancing with TV stars to visiting malls (he was swarmed by screaming fans in a mall at Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore), from Youtube to Google+, Shah Rukh has pulled all stops. I just see him anywhere and everywhere. What's more, Ra.One merchandise is selling like hot cakes, these days (even my son wants one!). Not to mention the Playstation video game which is really the brain child of a marketing genius (my son wants that, too). Amazing but just not enough to get me to the theatre. Atleast that's how I felt because of the Ra.One overload, till last sunday. But then came the showstopper. The real eyeball grabber - the super cool Ra.One comic book that came with my Sunday Times, last week. It was so appropriate. So in tune with the movie and ...

The new Vodafone Facebook phone ad is super-cool. Love the drama, the excitement and the theatre that they’ve built around a tiny little phone. Facebook in mobile phones is no new trend but the ad guys here, have taken it to a different level with this really neat ad. The first time, I saw the ad, I really thought it was an ad for Facebook but then, again, it was for the FB button on their new phone (which btw is very attractively priced!). Once I got over that initial confusion, I really got down enjoying the fun. The stunning backdrop, the cutie-pie hero those ‘oh-so-appropriate’ props, the dance and the peppy music. Loved them all. Not to forget the nearly unforgettable, ‘always playing in your head’ lyrics. I could easily relate to the lyrics because that so described a die-hard FB fan like me who eats, sleeps, drinks and lives FB. But then again, will it sell more of those phones? Maybe. But will it get more users on Facebook. I guess, it will.

Yeah...I've done my post-graduation in mass media. I've worked across a wide variety of media, right from print to radio to television to the new media, but, that isn't why I am crazy about media. I fell in love with media, a long, long time ago. I was in third grade when my parents brought home a colour television. Those were the days of Doordarshan and numerous UGC programs and farm-based programs. They were quite boring for a 8-year-old but then, I looked forward to the commercials on television. I so loved the 'Hamara Bajaj' jingle which I would hum while playing 'hop,skip and jump' with my friends. Then, there was the Onida devil commercial that used to scare me to bits. I spend many a sleepless nights, wondering if the devil was hiding just outside the window. Of course, there was the very smart Lalithaji, who was very much like the noisy aunty next-door. Really, those early days help build a fascination for media within me. And the love affair continu...