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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8 December 2005

Brown girl in the rain, tra-la-la-la, she looks like the sugar in a plum, plum, plum!

I should totally stop doing midweek parties, she said weakly, taking a large chug of her coffee. Grarh. Went out last night to this do at Monica's house, where I drank several large screwdrivers and consequently woke up this morning with a mouth of fur, a terrible cold and several mysterious bruises on my body. I wish I was still in college or school or something, when you got winter holidays, and the next day was off, and your last thought at three a.m as you stagger home and wake up your flatmate to let you in isn't "Fuck, I have to wake up in six hours."



Now, six hours may seem like a lot of sleep to most of you, but trust me, it isn't. I think if I were a fairytale character, I'd be Sleeping Beauty. Oh, the luxury of sleeping and sleeping and sleeping without worrying about whether you were late for something and knowing that your alarm clock was a kiss from a hottie who was also the love of your life. I once played Gretel in a school production of Hansel and Gretel and most cool I was too. Gretel was a fully empowered chick. Her brother was a bit of a dumbass, you know, what with getting lost and eating the witches house and everything, but she was all like, "Oh, don't worry, I marked the trail" and "Oh don't worry, I pushed the witch into the stove, so we're sorted." I once even had a Hansel and Gretel cake (the design of which, by the way, Nirula's STOLE from me. Hmph. I ought to sue) and my crowining moment was lifting up the marzipan witch and biting off her head with great gusto.


Winter parties are such fun, though. Even if you're cold, you warm up eventually. You have so much more energy to do everything and though you can't wear tank tops, you can pull out all your pretty full sleeved tops. Everyone smells good, not sweaty at all, there's a certain snugness to it all. No wonder my socialising quotient has gone through the roof this month. I feel flippant and frivolous and butterfly-like and incapable of serious conversation. My normally short attention span has now become minute, unless of course, we're talking about me. Which is as it should be.


In winter I also usually switch my drink, from Old Monk and Coke to vodka and coke. Vanilla Smirnoff when I can get it, because that, my friends, is delicious and warming. A lot of people have been saying how much they hate winter, but I don't get it, because this is so my time of the year. I come alive in winter, I dance up and down stairs, my heart is filled with well-being, I lie in bed and watch the sunlight from my window dance across my rug and feel happy. It's funny though, this, my first winter of being without ANYONE, even anyone prospective, and I should be feeling lonelier than ever, but I'm okay. I'm better than okay. I don't know how I'll feel on my birthday, considering it's the first birthday in oh, four years, that I'm solo, but my plan is to get very drunk. And look hot and celebrate being conceived and being here and being young.

But that'll be another midweek party. *Sigh* It seems like it's in my karma.


ps: The post titles usually have no other special significance than that I was singing the song before I posted. That's all. No special mystery :)

19 comments:

  1. Old Monk for all seasons.

    Khoob jamega rang, jab mil baithenge teen yaar. Aap, mai aur Old Monk.

    Got to trademark this line...

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  2. Finally a post that I can leave a comment on that is more or less connected to the post! I was so lost in your last post! But no matter, for my need to comment has been satisfied with this post. Um...what i really want to say is that December rocks! And I'm missing cold winters! Back home, here in Madras that is, winter is 23-24 degrees celcius! Oh, whatever...Cheers!

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  3. Hmm.. interesting.. my social quotient has dropped to zlich other than the house warming party at our common journalist friend's residence recently which I could not skip. Have not been to TC in more than a month and a half (I think I'd run into you the last that time there) and not missing it much at all, botched up the latest relationship recently and now craving for MY time alone more than anything else since we are working 6 days a week and all leave is cancelled for the foreseeable future. Winter seriously rocks, only if you don't have to get up and go to work every morning. I am honestly bored of the Delhi scene though, nothing other than the Sasha gig at Elevate this month is worth looking forward to.

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  4. Ooh..! I miss the razaai, hot cup of chai, the colorful sweaters, the cold breeze tingling your cheeks, the late hours of sleep and more sleep. Its different that those were also the time of schools and colleges when one had to rise early to be able to make it to the school/chartered buses on time..! But Delhi winter rocks.. totally..!!

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  5. i love the winter too
    with the warm cup of tea and the warmer blanket and the bone fires down the strret and the long walks in the middle of the afternoon and some other hot stuff ocassionally

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  6. i justify mid week parties by telling myself - these are the daysof our lives..abhi nahin to kab? ull hve to sober down soon enough ya?

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  7. Hallo!

    I found this blog through a-hem's, and just wanted to say it's an awesome read. Whether I agree with you (which is most of the time) or not, the reading is always fun, so thanks for giving a procrastinator yet another weapon in her arsenal. :D

    On the subject of sleep deprivation, I feel your pain. I used to be able to pull allnighters and carry on like nothing was wrong - not anymore. I need my eight hours of sleep, damnit!

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  8. hyde: very nice :) you should be in advertising

    wishful: i know! delhi winters are the best part of this city :)

    codey: sasha gig? what sasha gig?

    rt: oh ya, waiting in the cold for the school bus totally sucked, especially with those horrible school skirts.

    lemontree: ah, winter. with chapped lips and cheeks and curling your fingers around a hot cup of coffee... mmmmm. (tea's not my thing)


    abhishek: excellent justification! but alas, i'm getting older and wiser (?) so i don't think that works anymore!

    sharon: blogs are such tools for procrastinators!

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  9. eM, he's playing at Elevate on the 17th. I'll prolly risk going anyway even though he's too mellow for my trancy tastes these days. It is one of the rare chances to the maestro do his thing :)

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  10. fine! enough already! i'll date you, okay?

    winters are fun. especially when i imagine myself spending a lazy winter afternoon with a gorgeous lady friend on whom i might have a mad crush, in cozy coffee shop made warm by the incandescent amber of a fireplace, watching snowfall against a dark, grey, overcast sky.

    p.s.: i live in the real world, and often replace scintillating conversation with a gorgeous babe with a good book.

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  11. Naah, don't think I can take the pressure of having to be creative 24x7.

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  12. Y'know what? I never knew that you actually got cold winters in India! I always just assumed it was like Malaysia, hot and balmy all year long.

    And you know what else? I always thought the song was 'Brown Girl In The Ring.'

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  13. Come to think of it, yeah it IS "Brown Girl In The Ring"!

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  14. whoever got winter holidays??all i ever got was two slimy weeks that was too short to go home to Goa, and even shorter to enjoy the winter or play a decent game of cricket.
    But, then again, i get to wear more clothes in winter....The chill is chilled. yea,baby.

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  15. My winter drink is Scotch. But it is also, often, my summer drink.

    And Screwdrivers once led me to the first drinking experience where I threw up.

    I stick to brown colored hard liquor now.

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  16. hyde: actually, the funniest ad (whose pitch you mentioned) was when the ban first came into place. brands seemed to be struggling to 'sanitize' their offerings. here's what happened: the tagline ("khoob jamega rang, jab mil baithenge sung teen yaar. aap, hum, aur bagpiper") was spoken by a deep voice, and then immediately after "bagpiper" was spoken, _a_completely_different_voice_ (squeakier, maybe) was edited in, which said, "sodaaaaa!" ;-)

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  17. You know what...the title was the first song I ever danced on in my life...I was about 6 I think and I danced on the annual day with all the works...trousers, bow and guess what I had a girl :-)

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  18. Well i've heard a lot abt blogs and comments..and this is the first time i am leaving a comment..as a matter fact this is the first time something really inspired to leave my valuable comment over here....ofcourse i justify mid week mid winter parties!!!!!
    bombay winter's never force u to snug into your blankets or sweater's.....but the whether is perfect.....and the socializing quotient reaches its all time high....(i actually had a small party!!!!finaly!!! over the weekend!!!!after 3 long and gruelling months of night shifts at bpo!!!)

    By the way partying solo and getting drunk is a bad idea....call me up babes...w'll get drunk together!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  19. There's something so warming about vodka, that must be why the Russians like it so much!

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