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 October 2008

I demonstrate my lack of will power

I went shopping today to Phoenix Mills, with JC and the Generous Benefactoress (who, true to her name, bought me a very nice cloth Body Shop bag.) They, and another friend, are all going to Goa together. Lali is off to Delhi soon, and Diwali will be just me, some fairy lights and a bottle of vodka. Hmmm.. that doesn't sound so bad, actually.

I am throwing a party though, this Diwali. Half Diwali, half Halloween, which becomes (Wait for it!) the Hallowali party. The theme is gods and goddesses, so I'm going to be Lakshmi, in a red sari, carrying around wads of fake cash and wearing a paper lotus pinned to my pleats. Sadly, because it is on the day of Diwali, I don't know how many people will come and so far my FB event page shows only seven confirmed guests. I think my parties in Delhi might have been better, at least, I was ensured of a crowd and a good time. All the parties I've thrown in this city have been somewhat lacking.

I'm also feeling a little sorry for myself, as you can tell. The weather sucks, my boyfriend and his friends are going to Goa without me (a) someone has to cat sit; b) I figure he's owed a holiday without me since I did my B3 Goa weekend earlier this year.) and I can't stop thinking about home. Delhi home. Where the weather must be changing now and TC has reopened. I've been thinking a lot about my old life there as well--Small and me, in our huge house which was as much to rent as my tiny little room here. I like my life in Bombay very much, but every now and then I am assailed with homesickness, especially now, with winter almost upon us, where the smell in Delhi must be fresh and slightly frosty, and shawls and sweaters are pulled out of mothballs. Meh. I'm not helping myself, am I?

Yesterday was the horrible horrible riots very close to where I live, and I basically stayed at home and refused to get out. I'm so pissed off with the entire situation. I'm so pissed off with a lot of things about the governance of this country to tell the truth. Examples of what you can't do in two of the biggest metros in the world in a country that is one of the largest democracies:

1) Arrest a blatantly biased politician for doing blatantly bad things without four, count 'em, F.O.U.R people dying in the fallout riots.

2) Keep said politician in jail for fear of what the "law and order" situation might be.

3) Drive a car back home from work.

4) Smoke a fucking cigarette in a fucking bar.

5) Yell at someone on the road who cuts you off with his bad driving without the fear of being shot in the face.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head but I'm sure more will come to me. I'm really not liking this non-comment thing, but I'm hoping the haters will get bored of not being able to post anything in another few posts and then you, Reader With Constructive Thing To Say and I can have our happy dialogues once more. It is kinda stupid to be scared off by some random nasty anons, right? Yeah, it is. And I LOVE my comments section. It gives me joy. What the fuck, I'm going to reopen them and just delete mercilessly if I'm bothered.

I lasted all of one post. Wow. You can imagine what it was like when I quit smoking! (But, if you DO want to keep emailing, please continue. I heart emails and I reply there even if I don't in the comments page.)

40 comments:

  1. Number 4 hit it right on the fucking head! There was seating available in 4S post-7:30 last night. Anbumani has achieved the impossible.

    Bring your boyfriend and come back. A new meaning to bringing him home...

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  2. hope you have a great party. but hallowali?? lol

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  3. You can avoid some unwanted readers from spoiling your blog by dropping the 'sex and dating' tag from your posts.

    Happy Hallowali!

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  4. Guess what ? You don't lack will power buddy, you just lack the fear of being overcome by some little dicks..

    Am sure a lot comments will follow which talks about you being absolutely and insanely addicted to the attention, but even if it is attention that you are after, why hide ? Mate, if i could earn royalties and get attention, be famous and party hard at the same time, I would.

    The best part about your book was the fact that you what you did in life and how you felt doing it.

    Trust me no matter who says what her, that's exactly what people want to read here in this blog.

    cheers !

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  5. hey eM, I have been hoping to read about your book events and related travel, guess its not coming!!!...anyways, have a great party!!

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  6. hallowali!! great idea...hope you have a good time

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  7. I must confess that I am a compulsive reader of your blog for quite a while now!

    Yay!

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  8. I mailed you long time back. And am still waiting for your reply...

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  9. Woohoo!
    The comments are back!

    Laziness is...
    Not being bothered to open up just one more tab to send an email.

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  10. Yay yay! I've been reading this blog for over two years now and I've loved following the comments section. So much action, no?! :D So glad you reopened comments!

    And hey, is there any way I can lay my hands on your book in the states? Why's it not on Amazon?? :(

    You had to choose to release it just after I left good ol India!

    Anyways, cheers to you. Hope you have a good Hallowali!

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  11. I love the 'dilli ki sardi' too...
    especially miss sitting in the sardi ki dhoop- its wonderful to soak in the sun on a cold but sunny day :)

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  12. The aforementioned politician is a sad by-product of a huge heterogeneous democracy. If you cant cure it, endure it.

    As for the cutting cars, a colleague's cabbie once cut a Sumo real hard, and had a gun pointed on his face a little later.
    Moral:Get a gun.
    Stay gorgeous!

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  13. paper lotus pinned to you pleats? now i gotta see that!
    have a freaking nice hallowali party!
    and hey can i gate crash???
    and happy to see the comments are back...
    gonna be fun again! :D

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  14. yay comments!
    happy hallowali!

    and chin up, chest out. you can't be down coz other people have it worse. i'm frozen out here in the canadian fall (its not even winter yet!), snow, below freezing temperatures, can't feel my toes or fingers so cant hold a pen. myst type everything. haha. be glad em, be glad.
    also, if u do blog about ur halloween, wanna invite ur readers to share their experiences? that way, u wont have to respond to them (unless u really want to)...if u get a dialogue going between us, we can just respond to each other and u can sit back and marvel at it all. :)

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  15. Yay for comments again! I'm totally enthu that your will power in this case lasted all of one post :)...Have a great Hallowali party! I love the concept! Hopefully that will cheer you up a bit.

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  16. i love ur blog, and even though u write about the joys and tribulations in india, i live in china and am originally from msia; i couldnt help but relate 2u. i guess love/heartbreak IS a universal language after all. ciao!

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  17. "Half Diwali, half Halloween, which becomes (Wait for it!) the Hallowali party."

    are you a "Barny" fan ??

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  18. Guess what .. I find you sooo normal and likeable in this post "I demonstrate my lack of will power: ..homesickness .. wierd party ideas .. hate politics .. like every other 26 yr old i know ..

    To be honest .. my life experience & cultural perceptions are quite opposite yours (me traditional .. conservative .. whatever) .. But that doesnt stop me from trying to understand your point of view .. But i do feel a disconnect sometimes ..a feeling of being left behind while the world has moved on ..

    neways .. Wish you luck! .. Cheers

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  19. HEY! I am really offended now, you were suppose to celebrate Diwali with me remember?! :P
    It was going to be YOU, ME fairy lights and Vodka!
    And about Goa, don't feel too terrible we have one awesome trip coming our way again and I have a feeling that is going to be another exclusive B3 holiday.
    If it makes you feel any better it's the one thing I am really looking forward to in the next two months.
    So yeh! And no wallowing in self pity.

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  20. delhis rocking :) 3 taash parties this weekend and I would have totally loved to have you here :(

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  21. oh...lovely to c dos comments backk..ur blog is best with this eM..

    *smoking a fucking cigar in a fucking bar..

    how many times wud u use the golden word in a day??
    try beating me..yest,it was 56.. :p

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  22. Hi EM..another superb blog..as usual written with fantastic thrill and smartness..just bring back your boyfriend..and hey..can I be an invitee to your Hallowali party..seems interesting..can I ?
    I posted some ne blogs..if you can please visit and share your comments..http://subhadip-writerscolumn.blogspot.com

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  23. You are so true in describing the situation the country..take care..and hey..any Invitation for me..?
    ..http://subhadip-writerscolumn.blogspot.com

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  24. I dont get it. Your just gonna delete comments you dont like and keep the ones you like?

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  25. I think Diwali is so much cooler than Hallowali! But I'm having a nice time imagining you in a red sari with wads of fake cash and lotus petals pinned to your pleats! Wow, I remember that almost verbatim!

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  26. Hallowali. Seriously? Though, you as Lakshmi is something that would never have crossed my mind. Someone from the Western Mythologies, perhaps!

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  27. hope everything works out for you! i don't like Bombay at all, but how can you like Delhi? It is so unsafe, especially for women! Well, home is where the heart is...Happy Hallowali, if you do have a good party and you do dress up with the red sari and cash and lotus pinned up, please click a picture and post it:-)

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  28. I did email you and never received a reply. Not fair.

    Happy Diwali and may your Hallowali party be a blast! Good to see comments back.

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  29. Dialogue in the comment section??
    I have never seen that happen..i mean yeah, you used to comment when you were anounymously snonymous...but then you became famous.

    Or may be my comments were just too dumb to merit a reply. :P

    HDoesnt matter..am just being silly.

    Happy diwali!! And yeah, the Raj Thackerey thing sucks.

    S.

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  30. I completly agree that Delhites miss winter if they are in a place like mumbai... I have stayed in Mumbai for 2.5 yrs and i always used to remember the butter chickens n tandoori's that we used to relish in those chilly winter evenings... :)

    Ya i also heard that TC is open...in priya's complex, thank god they showed mercy on rock fans by re-opening it. will ve to check if it just like the old one or not...! will definitely let you know...:)

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  31. hah. your good. next time your parading in mumbai, im there.
    :)

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  32. please help
    http://www.concernindiafoundation.org/i-pledge/help_ipledge_page.asp?dreamid=DT67&session_id=sXOa61Dqp3

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  33. congrats for the book. One book I would like to suggest for you is Fear of Flying by Erica Jong. In case you haven't already read it.

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  34. hey goddess! i havent commented here in the longest time, though i've been following your posts. On a quick hop over in India, I picked up your book yday at the Marriott coffee shop (of all the places!). Intend to reach it on my flight to godforsaken Central Africa tonight.

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  35. You said

    >> Examples of what you can't do in two of the biggest metros in the world in a country that is one of the largest democracies <<

    Are we still a democracy? People simply don't seem to believe in democratic ways any more.

    Want something to be done, you gotta bash some buses first.

    These are really sad things happening in our country.

    Though I am a guy and live a completely different life (and probably in a different universe )than yours I must say that I liked your book. You writing is ... (well Ummmm what can I say) addictive!

    ReplyDelete

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