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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15 January 2006

The Grand Flatmate Auditions, Round One

Candidate: Christopher aka Uber Stylist

Vital Stats: Male, 23/24, likes Sylvia Plath, dislikes Ayn Rand, has lip piercing, homosexual, dating good friend Damien, Gemini

Chemistry Factor: High

Damien has been dating Chris for a while now. I think about two or three months, if not more. I've seen Chris around, he's a regular at the fashion party circuit, darling of the models, who seem to be constantly touching him, in the manner that models do, and he seemed like a smile-y sort of person, just not my type, I decided then, because he WAS involved in the fashion world after all, something that was completely alien to me.


Chris is a bit of an eccentric dresser as well. I loved his sense of style, the well-cut blazers, the fitted sweaters, the long scarves looped just so. And then there's his hair, formed into a mohawk. And his wide, slightly shy smile, and of course, the silver ring that runs through the fullest part of his lower lip.


Anyway, so he's dating Damien, whom I love, in the way it is only possible to love someone you see occassionally, or have drunken dinner with, but not someone you talk to every day or hang out with twice or thrice a week. We have a mutual appreciation thing going, Damien and I, where we hair-tousle and kid each other and do little take-off performances for each other and applaud loudly for each other's successes. He has not seen me annoyed or annoying, or weepy or first thing in the morning and vice versa.



Chris used to live with this girl but she moved out and now he wants a place to live that doesn't involve security downpayments and brokers and all that jazz. We have a ready-made flat, with the maid and dhobhi and all already taken care of, and I could see he was sold from the moment he walked in and took note of the hanging lamps in the drawing room and the orange kitchen, looking its best, because the maid had come in after a WEEK and cleaned up, and my room, which would be his room, looking cozy and lived in and cupboard-full.



Small came home later, with her dog Leah, who she was babysitting and because Damien and I were busy helping ourselves to dinner in the kitchen, Chris very naturally opened the door and soon we were sitting around the drawing room and just talking like we had been living together for years. "We should get a cat," he said, and I grinned and said, "Yay!" and Small rolled her eyes. Damien was the only one who noted that first 'we' and the consequent 'we's' after that. We told him our house rules, we promised it wouldn't take him more than fifteen minutes to get to work in the morning, by auto and we also promised the men in the construction site downstairs wouldn't stare at him, something he faced on a regular basis. Small and I, being women in this city, have gotten used to the stares, the songs sung behind our backs, the accidental-on-purpose brushing past, and we ignore it, or if we're feeling aggressive, we match stare for stare. But it's different with men, because Chris told us, instead of backing down when he stares back, they get incensed and more aggressive than before. It's a sad world we live in.



And after they left, Small and I did a little war whoop and decided we wanted to adopt him and add him to our family. Let's hope he says yes!

13 comments:

  1. lovely entry..
    love the way you write...
    big plans to steal your life..

    on a different note - a longgg time ago you linked to a brave woman who got molested on a train and dealt with it beautifully...

    wud u still hav the link?

    - brownbum

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  2. All the best! Gay roomies are great fun...and you'll never make another fashion mistake...

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  3. oh yes!!

    me too, i so wish i could steal your life and masquerade as eM.
    happy for you! now you can fill us in on more of your eccentricities cuz of your exotic find!

    happy living

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  4. hmmmm... the lip ring really got me going... am thinking of getting one ever since I saw Chester(linkin Park) but somehow backing off, coz it really wont go with my real thin lips, I guess.. I think I shall settle for Nipple pierce...

    Oh, well, hey, I think the Flatmate Audition thing can go really well coz it has a nice start.

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  5. heh wow. so you've got yourself a brand new baby!

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  6. I'm always nervous about moving in with friends - nothing like a tiff at home to ruin a perfectly good social circle. But it can work, and I'm quite happy where I am now, living with my mates.

    If this Chris has model friends, then you should MOST definitely snap him up!

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  7. That post for some strange reason made me want to have a Mars bar. Maybe it was the orange kitchen walls :-)

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  8. I think anon is talking about mangs na? Anyway good for you that you have a 'fashionable' flatmate;-)

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  9. . hey but guess wot the most harmless guyz the city of angels(pliladelphia) eh . u cud actually share soem gud times wid out worrying about the guy . hey anyways with delhi being as unsafe as it is now gay guyz are the safest bet as roomies. no kind of stupid moves unless hes a closet bisexual.

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  10. Almost totally unconnected, but do you think that Sylvia Plath inspired the character in "The Prince of Tides"? And how I used to love Ayn Rand! If I hadn't discovered objectivism in my late teens, I think I'd have ended up being totally screwed up - instead of only being half-way there like now ;-)

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  11. Waiting to see "Will and Grace" post real soon

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  12. Beautiful post. I hope he says yes too, Good Luck

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  13. hey anotha thing cud i come for the auditions . no casting couch and all that jazz. (just kiddin). sounds fun .hey is being gay a requirement .gee do crossdressers and dykes qualify. or straight guyz also r in contention or stand a chance.

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