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



Sign up for my newsletter: The Internet Personified

12 October 2010

I’m channelling Cher and Coldplay

*I don’t know what it is about certain people that make you regress about ten or twenty years. I had a friend visiting this last week, and I swear, I felt nineteen all over again. I don’t know—have you ever been part of a group for so long that once you reassemble from different parts of the country all of you wind up playing the same roles you did back when you were eighteen? It’s all very loving, but also at the same time, somewhere at the back of your head, your adult self keeps going, “DUDE. I’M STILL BACK HERE.” Weird.

 

*I never know how much to reveal or not reveal on Facebook. There are some (annoying) people on my news feed who are all about the Heartbreak! and the Drama! and Angsty Song Lyrics! But for me, I just keep thinking of all the randoms that I’ve added over the years (and everyone has a certain amount of randoms) and thinking of their reaction to my weepy updates, that I usually press the backspace button and get rid of everything, resorting instead to either a) song lyrics that mean nothing unless you know the whole song or b) something funny. I can do funny. Funny is my friend.

 

*So you know how every time you break up with someone you change your hair? Or is that just me? My hair at the moment looks terrible, unless it’s in a very stern bun. I even did a doodle of it to show you:

mushroom cloud

So now, I’m thinking of having it rebonded. Now I know rebonding is terrible etc etc, but oh, I’ve been wanting this my whole life. I have (as someone said to me the other day) “virgin hair” and I would really like to be that girl with straight hair, even if it is fleeting.

 

* I’m off again to Delhi soon, to go to the Jodhpur music festival and to generally lick my wounds in the lovely October weather. When I return, SOMEONE will be leaving my flat, either me or JC, because really, this is ridiculous. I need to start househunting soon, although I’m afraid with my paltry budget, it’s going to be kind of hard to find the space I’m looking for (a SEPARATE bedroom from the hall, lots of light, a decent neighbourhood and preferably: affordable enough for just me and TC, no roommates). Still no harm in looking, right?

 

*Last week I was very fancy and went to the Busaba 9th anniversary party. Busaba is a place I used to go to a lot, and then I sort of forgot it existed, and last Thursday I was all “Oh, hello again!” It was full of shiny people, and I chugged my weight in wine and danced even though the balls of my feet were complaining at me, and it was all very awesome. You couldn’t tell by looking at me how broke I was, and the stuff was on the house anyway. I should really go back to Busaba on a regular night, I forgot how much I liked it—shiny people and all.

 

*Actually, there’s just something about South Bombay I like. I like to joke that I didn’t move to Bombay, I moved to Bandra, but while Bandra is AWESOME, South Bombay has a certain.. something. I like the buildings, I like the feeling in the air of being in a large city (because really, if you think about it, Bandra is like a village.) I like the options. There are some things South Bombay does not have: notably alcohol delivered to your doorstep at 3 am, but still, it’s attractive. It’s a bit too late for me to move out of Bandra (my friends are here, I work from home, so hard to make new friends outside parties, and people in the South are a little more.. elitist.) but I like to think of the what-may-have-beens.

15 comments:

  1. Hey! Am tuned into ur blog since some time.
    And surprisingly we are not only similar aged but also similar things have been happening to us in almost similar time frames.
    Quite a coincidence or maybe tats how experiences are sequenced!

    Sailing in the same boat, am heartbroken too. Not sure of where I stand at the moment.
    One day am looking at the future with somebody more promising and the next hour am with Him till eternity!!

    Your posts are inspiring, interesting and reflective. May you get all the happiness soon so that I can cheer in anticipation too :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh im SO with you on the how-much-to-reveal-on-facebook dilemma! as much as i am with you on the too-many-randoms-added-over-the-mmonths. AND also as much as i am with you on posting-song-lyrics-to-express-your-feelings-and-state-of-mind!

    so recently, i sat and weeded out all the randoms from my list, keeping only those people i am actually in touch with, and removed everyone who is justa face on my friends list :P and i keep this up by regularly purging the list every now and then :)

    good luck househunting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Delurking!

    I agree with what you said about Bandra and South Bombay. Bandra is a cosy, pretty cottage. South Bombay is a sprawling mansion, asking to be explored but a tad too awe-inspiring.

    Right, so started reading you a couple of years ago and really like your blog. Even saw you at a discussion at Olive during the Bandra festival last year (no, did not have the nerve to walk up and say hello) and from today, I will be stalking you on twitter as well. (Forewarned, forearmed and so on.)

    All the best with the boy situation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yet another Delurker!...
    following you for a while now, and while you have all my sympathies for the heart machine, i wanted to encourage the rebonding because because because (and no one likes to hear this!) but i have EXACTLY the same kind of hair that you do and i got this natural rebonding done recently :) ... i was warned against it and how but i have this tremendous hairstylist/advisor and she did a fabulous! job with full protein protection and all that shabang!... my hair is soft, it hasnt gone dry and lifeless and it looks natural so unless onelooks really hard you cant tell that its been rebonded. if you want i'll email you her number, look her up.

    and i am saying this becase yes, this change of hair thing works for me, if only for a while. it is one of the many ways to tricking that incessant, nagging sadness that exists despite everything, something you cant put your finger on. goodluck with everything :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have wondered about the hair thing too. One on my first thoughts after a break-up always seems to be: cut your hair. (Or at least dye it or something.) I think it's partly our way of showing the guy / the world something along the lines of: I am a different person now. Or maybe, "I am moving on and getting on with my life". It's like we need some visible way to mark a new beginning, to brand ourselves as "not your woman any more". Or maybe that's biology? Maybe we're subconsciously letting the other males in our surroundings know that we are now available? :o))

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't think rebonding is evil. I've done it every year for four years and my hair is fine. Basically, the hairdresser must not touch the roots, and they condition madly beforehand. Also, you should get one of those serums to apply after a wash just to give your hair extra conditioning. Growing it out is a bit of a bitch because you get this kink but it's not as bad as say growing out a "boy cut" or even highlights.

    I grew up in Bandra and cannot imagine living anywhere else in Bombay. But Parul's analogy is spot on. South Bombay has always been it, though the reason why you wouldn't live there is because it's impossibly expensive.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think I've 'hidden' three-quarters of people who're my 'friends' on facebook, cos their updates are jarring a lot of times, and I often wonder how I ended up adding them in the first place. About hair, always works- getting a new mane I mean.

    ReplyDelete
  8. RE: FB randoms, you don't necessarily have to purge your Friends list. You may want to create Lists and choose to make your posts (all or some) only available to some of them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. rebonding is not terrible. its when the effect starts wearing out and you start to resemble medusa that you regret it though.

    south bombay, btw, fun place.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Whhhyyy? I love the curls. You should keep them. Just get a good curl defining product.

    ReplyDelete
  11. i really loved my straight hair... (i recently cut it because of the breakup thing)
    had heard bad things about rebonding and all but had a pleasant experience with it. as long as you condition it properly after every wash.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rebonding, really? I have all this thick straight hair and I think curls are naturally incredibly pretty.
    And I completely agree with the TMI on facebook thing. The worst is when they write on a mutual friend's wall, with full details. And name-dropping. It's called an inbox :/

    Good luck finding a house, and yes, while town is pretty and airy and has immense character, Bandra is Amazing. It's a little self-sufficient village, really. Don't move out :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. state of average frustrate chick! at the age of 30+ hooked to FB.huh!

    ReplyDelete
  14. The no 1 rated penny stock newsletter sign up for penny stock news, stock alerts, day trading and penny stock investment

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey,

    A colleague of mine said I should take a look at your blog. I like the way you write. Everything's interesting.

    I couldn't identify with much, but could imagine people identifying and that made it interesting. Do keep posting, its great to see blogs becoming a popular and almost professional forum for writers.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your feedback! It'll be published once I approve it. Inflammatory/abusive comments will not be posted. Please play nice.