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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5 January 2009

Last night I dreamt of San Pedroooooooooooo*

* yes, I AM singing Madonna. I've got it bad.

Goa was so, so awesome. I have returned, the colour of a nice, ripe coconut (as opposed to the milk coffee colour I had earlier thanks to too many days of staring at the computer and too many nights of drinking till the wee sma's). I'm also very proudly displaying to anyone who will look, a very very faint bikini line--just in case, you know, anyone didn't know I went off on a fabulous beach holiday.



Well, duh, of course there were ointment-flies. No ointment is complete without ointment flies, no? Firstly, I missed JC a whole big lot. Like missed him missed him. Like oh-my-god-I've-just-broken-up-with-someone missed him. Only, we spoke every day and I tried to be on MSN at least for 15 minutes so we could chat so I wasn't broken up but it felt like I was without someone I loved and it was a really, really weird feeling. If I have to describe it (and it's hard to get it into words, but hey, that is my job after all) I'd say it was like being homesick for someone. Yeah, pretty much that. Also, being on my own in Goa and yet not single, was a very new thing. I was with my friend Ira, who IS single and was having a fabulous time getting her mojo on and moonlit walks on the beach and so on, and I was the one reading or looking into the distance or holding the handbags (so as not to be a kabab mein haddi, you know, good friend etc) I haven't been the handbag holder in a while.



But while it sucked to be in a romantic location without the Romantic Object, it was also kinda nice to have so much time to myself. I got to think a lot, and feel a lot and I even got an idea for my new book (yay) and I shopped and made some new friends and caught up with some old ones and it was all very peaceful. (And boring, I can hear some of you mutter under your breaths, but it wasn't, not really. I swum, I read, I partied. I just did it solo or with Ira as opposed to with a bunch of Holiday Flings.)



Ira and I are FANTASTIC travel companions, by the way. She was Thelma to my Louise, Charlie's Angel to my Charlie's Angel, Ya Ya sister to my Ya Ya sister, something else to my something (I'm running out of great women partner movies here). She let me READ. And in that sentence is all you need to know about a great travel buddy.



And Anjuna beach was possibly the best beach choice ever. *self back pat* Not only does it offer crazy beach parties (and yes, they still happened) but also, should you choose--quiet little shacks to park yourself at all day and just drink your fruity cocktails. Plus, it was remarkably free of annoying Indian Family Patriachs--you know the type, they look you up and down and make loud remarks and have sticky children everywhere and swim in their VIP underwear.



We did get a particularly creepy cab driver on New Year's Eve though as we went back to the hotel, who implied that since we had been in mixed company he should be able to "enjoy" with us also. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. I was so speechless and shocked and SCARED, I didn't know what to say. We were in the middle of nowhere, if we had stopped we'd have had no other transport options. Very not nice though. I hope it's not an indication about how the rest of the year will go.

I actually didn't get very drunk--ooh except this one night, after we met some Brit girls by the pool at our hotel and then we went out with two of them at night and it turned into one of the most random-but most fun--evenings I've had in a while. Highlights include me tentatively poking a silicone breast and then my own to see what the fake ones felt like. (NB: Spongy) Of course, hangover from hell the next morning PLUS a bad stomach PLUS (of all the terrible timing) my period arriving meant I spent the next day a little less like a frisky Disney rabbit.


The Anjuna Flea Market was great fun also. They've stopped the Ingo's Night Market, which is a bummer, but we did get our shopping did. Or at least I did. I went a little insane with silver jewellery. I even bought JC a ring, a thick silver one with a rotating band inset into it so you can twist it when you feel like fiddling with something. And I got me a turquoise and coral ring which is all huge and chunky and makes up for my old rings which I lost and which I still miss.

And then we came back and THEN it was Chrisann's wedding, which is a story for another post.






31 comments:

  1. it seems pretty weird that there is not a single comment on this so far. amd it seems that you are finally back to a bit of form on your writing.
    Happy New Year to you!

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  2. Hey em!!

    HNY!!WL is rite..this one was pretty much em like and I loved the whole thing..

    beach parties in goa again??Oh..wow..!! :)

    u haven bothered to pick up my award.. :(

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  3. well, THAT mystery is easily cleared up. I wrote it last night, but only posted it this morning, therefore the date. :)

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  4. just started reading your blog and i think your writing is quite nice ...but it feels like somethings still holding you back and you are not saying exactly what you feel, but then i might be wrong.....cheers!!

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  5. Looking forward to the book. Will you be at the Jaipur lit fest?

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  6. yay! :) the silicon breast was hilarious! hope you're well and a big hello to ira.

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  7. Happy new year Lady !

    You sound happy in a freaking long time and I hope you are !

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  8. Happy new year girlie....
    beach party at goa ...coooll
    Silcon breast thing was very well explained ......lol
    expecting more in 2009

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  9. Hmm... did they feel spongy?Funny we were told in surgery they look and feel the same,except for altered(read less) sensation to the owner!

    Glad to know you had fun-filled vacation.I sooooo want to go to Goa now.

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  10. And since you have showered oddles of praise at my travel companionship, I would like to remark that you my dear are truly my Fried Green Tomatoes as well (old lesbian film reference) with that said, this has been the best vacation I have had in a long, long time and I can't wait to go back!
    In the mean time i will indulge in the nostalgia of the sweet memories ever so often :)

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  11. so goa was really fun i guess...but somewhere i felt u r not very happy with the parties u attend ,der is some sort of unhappiness in the happiness u share...don't bother i often feel such intuitions!;)

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  12. I'll be there at Anjuna last weekend of the month.

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  13. Cool! Generally, I dont have the patience to read through such long personal posts, but yours made me smile. :)

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  14. Hehe, was just going through the comments here and I guess my perceptive skills have been numbed by the Delhi winter because I couldn't perceive any unhappiness whatsoever in your post! It was refreshing to read something so unabashedly happy. :) Shine on!

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  16. Hey....I happenned to pick up 'You are here" from a bookstore sometime back & absolutely loved it. I really envy the independent life you lead...

    Add one more reader to an already long list

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  17. hey you write very well. Though I was a little worried about the cab driver comment....how did it end? How did you guys get out of that? Were you drunk in the cab at that time? Does it scare you to go out alone for late night partying now?

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  18. it's kinda ironic...but ur writing is far more interesting when u r single...or when u r dealing wid a break up..but being in a relationship makes u a lil regular...but i say it's ironic because it's d best phase of ur life...when u r in love...and this is d 1 time when u have sooo much to say...but there's still a lot less to say...maybe bcos u share all that u have to with the person u love...its a general observation...applies to most ppl!

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  19. :)))) happy new year Girl!!

    U must try south Goa beaches..surely no VIP Underwear dudes there:))
    gawd! ur post is making me miss Goa so much I wanna go too!!!

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  20. you remind me of mia in californication, you might wanna check it out if you haven't already, and that's high praise.

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  21. corky and violet from bound...though they were lesbians

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  22. Happy New Year... beach parties in Goa... damn. I loved ur book btw.. i wish more people wrote like you over here.

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  23. first off, i recently read you are here - and i loved it. in bits and pieces i saw my own life reflected in the stories of yours. and thats always a heartening feeling.

    secondly, new years in goa. sigh..for a beach bum like me, thats just about perfect. and i havent been to goa in a while now, so this made me all nostalgic and siiiigh..

    thirdly, i love your blog. i love how honest, candid, out-there, witty and downright fun-to-read it is. i come here to read an update and go away smiling..so thank you!

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  24. I've been enjoying your column in HT cafe for quite some time so when I spotted your book in my local lending library I instantly picked it up and really enjoyed it :)

    In fact I think my next post will be about You Are Here.

    To introduce myself, I have been a somewhat intermittent blogger over the years mainly cause of academic pressures, misguidedly moved to xanga for a long time, and am now back here on blogspot!

    Do visit me...though my blog is still WIP with regards to layouts etc. Tc.

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  25. GOA is soooo the place TO BE!!
    Anjuna flea market God hai! and so is Goa! the whole once-a-year thing has to be followed dude!

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  26. Hey, I have been following your blog for a while now. Really like your interesting take on so many things. But am writing in for something else altogether. I run this small marketing consulting firm in bangalore. One of our clients is Urban Yoga, a spiritual fitness wear. But, you don't need to be a fitness freak to be able to enjoy them. At the moment, we are trying to understand what consumers really feel about Urban Yoga clothes, from perception to feel to comfort et al. I have a proposition for you. If we give you a gift voucher of Urban Yoga clothes, would you be willing to share with us your opinion on the clothes through your blog. Let me know if you'll be interested. My email id is
    anupam[dot]mukerji[at]gmail[dot]com
    and
    anupam[at]mmi[dash]india[dot]com

    Let me know.
    Thanks.

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  27. u writer...and " we did get our shoppin did"..srsly

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  28. to see what the fake ones felt like...haha..
    Curiosity killed the writer...

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