My latest book is The One Who Swam With The Fishes.

"A mesmerizing account of the well-known story of Matsyagandha ... and her transformation from fisherman’s daughter to Satyavati, Santanu’s royal consort and the Mother/Progenitor of the Kuru clan." - Hindustan Times

"Themes of fate, morality and power overlay a subtle and essential feminism to make this lyrical book a must-read. If this is Madhavan’s first book in the Girls from the Mahabharata series, there is much to look forward to in the months to come." - Open Magazine

"A gleeful dollop of Blytonian magic ... Reddy Madhavan is also able to tackle some fairly sensitive subjects such as identity, the love of and karmic ties with parents, adoption, the first sexual encounter, loneliness, and my favourite, feminist rage." - Scroll



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22 September 2004

Wintertime and the living is easy...

Summer gives its last few coughs here in Delhi, and at nights, you can smell winter. The weather varies from windy to horribly humid, but soon the chilly smell of woodsmoke and mothballs will hang in the air, and room heaters will emerge from their long stay in cupboards.

I love the winter. I was born in December, perhaps the coldest month here, and I embrace the feel of a biting wind against my face, the long, black overcoat that I love and oh, my boots! My boots will be all set to wear soon. (Though the last time I wore them I got shoebite as a result of which both my big toenails have turned blue and fallen off).

But then there are drawbacks. For instance, living over the river, which I do, means there's a lot of fog on the bridge, which means more accidents, equals paranoid mother. Then all my slutty/skimpy clothes will have to go back into my 'summer trunk' and all my turtlenecks pulled out. And summer weight loss will be replaced by winter wieght gain. And I just get so damn lazy in the winter, that getting out of my warm house on Sunday to go get waxed will be a pain in the you-know-what.

Then I think of curling up under my warm comforter, drinking coffee, with a hot water bottle snugly at my feet. And saving money on petrol because I won't be using the air conditioner. In fact, I can even make a visit to my favourite place in Delhi--- Daryagunj-- which has second-hand book pavement vendors on Sunday. (Most of my books are picked up there). Or Sarojini Nagar, for its brilliant export surplus clothes. And my birthday, when I turn 23 (I'd just like to regress back to being 21, or 19. Yeah, 19 sounds good). And Christmas, with the amazing choirs that sing carols. And switching to my 'winter drink' (Vodka with coke/oj, as opposed to rum and coke in the summer).

This will be the first winter without K. in two years. No K. to take my out on the eve of my birthday and surprise me at 12 with a Zippo. No one to kiss on New Years Eve (which was also our two year, six month anniversary), no one to cuddle under my comforter with, watching TV and complaining about the others' cold feet. Yeah, it will be lonely. But who knows, maybe by then there will be someone else. If not, I'm okay with being on my own. Maybe I can finally get my book written, my applications done and my inner self found.

I'll keep you posted though.

EDIT: Same day, later

Things I am pissed off about (RANT ALERT! RANT ALERT! Don't say I didn't warn you!)
> It's 9 pm and the PR cab that was supposed to pick me up at 7.45 pm still hasn't arrived to take me for a food review. Their food had better be good if they want a good review now!
> My lower back is aching like a bitch, my skin has broken out, I have a strong suspicion I'm going to have 'that time of the month' again.
> I'm so damn needy with all my relationships. Seriously. I expect people to be in constant contact with me, get grouchy when they don't call, get grouchier when they do call and have something better to do than hang out with me.
> Cigarrette smoking leads to cancer.
> I have as of now, no concrete plans for Saturday, which means in all likelihod, I'm going to have to spend the whole night at an office party, which normally I love but am just not in the mood for this week.
> I'm not even hungry anymore.
> No one will read my blog after I shifted the URL.
> I don't *really* have any friends at work, just people at work who I talk to.
> This is the only place I can whine and that makes me feel like a loser without any friends.
> I'll probably be stuck in a no-go career for the rest of my life.
> I'm not happy anymore.
> I'm having the worst week in the world and it started three days ago.


1 comment:

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