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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11 April 2006

In which I totally pimp my blog


The weekend was hectic, thank you for asking. Party at my dear friends, Mr and Mrs Poet's house, for a housewarming they were throwing. (She's not a poet, but he is, and Mr and Mrs Poet has such a great ring to it, don't you think? Mr Poet and Mrs Editor doesn't sound quite the same. Mr and Mrs Poet-Editor? Editor-Poet? Honey, we're having dinner at the Editor-Poets' tonight, look out your black tie. Okay, I can work with that.) Anyhoo, so we brought wine and drank all the available alcohol in the house, with every single available mixer--dark rum and Sprite DO NOT go well together, for future reference, and the evening wound up with me sitting in the living room (my heels by this time were killing me, so I just plonked myself on the floor, barefoot) and swigging straight from a bottle of Sula Rose, which was delectable at this stage, seeing as I had just gotten over the hiccups.

I also got from another guest, a fantastic cure for the hiccups, much better than the old drink a lot of water theory, because it cured me. Anyway, this involves drinking water too, but with your free arm up in the air, and counting to ten as you drink. Then you drop your arm and breathe normally and voila! No more ze heecups.

Cookie, my dog, has by the way, produced three puppies. They are ADORABLE. And very young--only a week old. And looking for good homes. My dog is part spaniel, but she's mated with some strange dog, so the puppies will be, um, one-fourth spaniel? No matter, they're still really really cute, with the teeniest petal-pink paws, and little pink noses and they fit into the palm of my hand. Can you say aw? All together now--- awwwwwwwww. So the upshot is, if you would like a Cookie-puppy (TM) or a mini-biscuit (heh), email me. They should be ready to be adopted in another six weeks.

Also now is a good time to share that I'm leaving y'all for about 10 days this May. I'm taking a holiday with my mom and Small and her parents to *hold your breath* Egypt! Think of me in Cairo with a sola topee and a whip going, "Damn'd natives, bloody climate they have here, what?" Think of me on the Nile, pretending to be Cleopatra, and waving a langurous arm around at my attendant. Think of me, as a belly dancer for a Pharoah, shaking my booty. Are you jealous yet? Are you? Are you? :)

By the way, I don't think I have any visitors from Egypt, but if any of you know some little out of the way type thingies I should be doing, I'd appreciate any tips. Please, and thank you.


And week before last (oops, sorry, JANUARY. I'm behind on my net surfing, clearly) was De-Lurking Week, which I totally missed, but I'm declaring it here on this blog, so if you've been lurking and un-commenting, then come out of hiding already and say hello. And I think if you have a blog, you should spread the word on it as well. Why should the Americans have all the fun?

56 comments:

  1. heheh.. can't let the terrorist win.

    Cheers to bloggers and the blog commentors.

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  2. The Egyptians walk with their hands positioned in a certain way. Palm of right hand faces the ground and points forward, while for the left hand the palm faces the sky and points backwards.

    You can see them in Tintin & The Cigars Of The Pharaoh.

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  3. ok. delurking. come and visit, too, at the risk of sounding like a plug.

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  4. okay, since it's a call to arms - i'm delurking too. :)

    hope you have a fantastic trip, and pls do some bellydancing on my behalf while i shrivel up here in lab with my pipettes, totally un-hot labcoat and totally-not-what-i-want results.

    sigh.

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  5. As good a time as any to de-lurk I guess. :)

    Hi eM, Hello All!

    Horrors! No new posts for 10 days?? Just when I finished up with your archives too! :(

    Egypt will probably be as hot as Delhi. Be sure to pet some Crocodylus niloticus for me. ;)


    - jusT
    (Don't have a Blog right now, but who can foretell what the future holds?)

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  6. i've commented before, but haven't in a while. so... Hello! :o)

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  7. de-lurking.

    hello.

    oh, I'm Dee's nephew (not that it matters).

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  8. Still lurking. Go Osama! *Hopes the DHS and the FBI do not read this blog*

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  9. funny how you've become such a daily feature in my life- checking out how eM is doing seems absolutely vital now.
    besides that undefinable something called Voice that one just has to have (and you do), it just struck me that you're a good read also because you're a good sort. whether you're being angsty or deeply superficial or witty or wise.
    so suddenly felt a powerful surge of affection for you.:) have a great time in egypt.

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  10. I've de-lurked before, only because your counter revealed my obsessive search to find your blog! Tee hee!

    I'll see if I can oust some lurkers on my blog, too! Y'all are welcome to come see! (I'm not Southern, but my mom lives in the South, and just sent me a very funny e-mail about Southern expressions, so I've got "y'all" on the brain!)

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  11. Ah well since you insist!

    *Delurking in 10 9 8 7...*

    Hello!

    *Back to lurking again.*

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  12. de-lurking...uhmmm..i guess!

    have a great time in egypt!

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  13. As Hyde said, dont forget to 'Walk like an Egyptian' the moment u get out of the aircraft and be sure to do it at the immigration counter other wise they maynot stamp ur entry visa... :-)

    the next one mayb a 'please only lurk' week.....

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  14. jealoys, jealous, jealous. You have a job you luuuurve, you have the most adorable pups to spare(I'd have taken one, if only I was in the same city) and you r holidaying in EGYPT! Girly, do you realise you break hearts, lead to big time mental depression and turn people green with yr compulsive confessions?
    Have fun.

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  15. delurk();

    Egypt in May? Travel with hats. Light-coloured ones.

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  16. I cannot let them have all teh fun. So, here I am good blog. have been reading you since you started blogging. ehem!!!

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  17. Wish I could come n look at the pups... At the meantime, I reside here

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  18. Don't think I can offer anything to match Hyde's tip. Oh, all right - borrowing from Tom Lehrer, "don't drink the water and don't breathe the air".

    And yes, don't follow large hunky types into the darkness beyond the campfire, they're liable to change into decaying mummies or swarms of flies.

    J.A.P.

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  19. Haha, okay okay, I comment! reading ya since a long time :)

    Have fun in Egypt and be careful to not run into some mummies ;)

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  20. hehhehe
    i've been lurking too...
    been reading ur blog for an year now...
    ur posts are kind of addictive..
    just had to comment when i heard of delurking week...
    keep posting..

    *most probably back to lurking!*

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  21. Ok. De-lurking.
    :-)
    I've been pretty regular on your blog for the last few months. And now it seems like I am your only reader from Egypt!
    Yes, I live here in Cairo. Welcome to Egypt! :-)
    And Nath is right - Egypt in May is likely to be hot. Dont be disheartened though - May is still a good time to visit - June, July and August are the months to avoid.
    Cairo is a fun place to be, lots of places to see, and things to do. Can mail you in detail... :-)

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  22. 'De-lurking' week, eh?

    Making compulsory confessors out of all of us :)

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  23. i like the belly dancing image...

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  24. The Arabic phrase that may be most useful in Egypt is "Ehtaraam nafsak," which means "Behave yourself," and is something to shout at the very badly behaved young men, of which there are plenty.

    For Egyptian food, everyone is going to point you to Felfela in Midan Tahrir (which is Cairo's CP). But for the real deal - and Egyptin food isn't distinguished fare, as the posh hotel menu might suggest, but its humble and satisfying - try to stop by a place called Al Tabei (theres a branch on the West Bank area of Mohandiseen, and I think theres one Downtown).

    They say that if you drink from the Nile it means you will one day return. But they also say you will get bilharzia and flatworm eggs in your brain.

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  25. Death on the Nile...mmm....the Mummy...mmm...Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat...mmm (wait- does that even have Egypt in it?) That's the sum of my Egypt references, have fun!

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  26. Not been to Egypt, so can't help you there, but I can take up the challenge to delurk. Not sure how I got here in the first place, probably one of those mammoth sessions where you click on someone's blogroll until you find someone worth putting on your own.

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  27. Delurking to say hello! Extremely jealous about your trip to Egypt!
    Really enjoy your blog.

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  28. Does it count if I only, mostly lurk?

    Rum and Sprite sounds frightening, btw. Although I have no moral high ground - one night Mr. Scoop and I MacGuyvered a buzz out of cherry brandy and Diet Coke.

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  29. Egypt Tips :

    1) Go see the pyramids. See, i don't need to go to egypt to give you that tip, like someone before me did.

    2) Don't get stuck inside King Tut's Pyramid, and if you do, don't open it, otherwise his mummy will get lose and look for a 1001 people to suck the life out of, and then he'll get his power back and then we'll all have to fight him and then the middle-east thing will be pointless cos everyone will be fighting him.

    3) Don't hit/kick/bite/yell at/insult any cat. The egyptians worship them.

    4) Look at the pyramids... Hard. Isn't it a little simpistic to believe that these monoliths were just built to bury monarchs, and that they were build by slaves that rolled those large stones on logs? yes? Now do you believe in aliens?

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  30. Delurking from Chicago! You are a wonderful writer and it's been lots of fun to follow your escapades. It's amazing how often your nights out in Delhi sound just like my nights out here (i.e., copious drinking, occasionally embarassing behavior and the odd epiphany or two)! Have a great trip to Egypt -- I went there in 2001 and it was the greatest trip of my LIFE....jealousy abounds...

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  31. I love you people. Truly, madly, deeply etc. :) Delurking week has clearly been a success, and I am watching with joy as more and more people come out of the woodwork. Such fun.

    But some notes must be addressed, especially anu, my reader from egypt. (dude, i have a reader from eygpt, how cool am i?) Anu, please, please email me with some recommendations, especially if you have any tips on nightlife, coz Lonely Planet seems to be pretty silent on that front.

    I actually haven't seen The Mummy, for those of you who have been giving me references to it. I WAS going to, right before I got to Eygpt, but I was warned against it!

    neha, I cringed deeply when I saw your comment, feeling deeply unfeminist and ashamed of myself. My college would disown me :)

    anonymous, I have great pang of affection for you too :) which probably would be greater if you told me who you were.

    raghu, your tips are fabulous and have written them down and shared with Small. Thank you :) (Though, btw, even Lonely Planet offers 'behave yourself', but I don't think it should be a problem, seeing as how I was brought up in Delhi after all)

    everyone else, thank you for commenting and making my day :) I have a dreadful cold and cough and THREE stories to file, so I'm feeling very sorry for myself.

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  32. Referring to the dark rum cum sprite warning, gin and fanta als dont make a good combo!!!!

    As to Egypt, i dont envy you shoving with a couple of other thousand tourist through dark tunnels and watching what hords of british archeologist couldnt move and time hasn't managed to destroy till yet!

    You may find it helpful to remember you are visiting a muslim country before you shed your clothes publicly.

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  33. Oooh I so want your some-quarter spaniel. But I know I wouldn't be able to take care of them though I can ensure oodles of cuddles:)

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  34. Oh and as about your trip to Egypt, do keep your tattoo and your belly stud covered:-) And bring back some nice souvenirs...

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  35. is it too late do delurk?

    About Egypt... Don't get too excited about the pyramids. I mean, they're cool and all, but really they're just big piles of stone. You go there expecting a big deal, but it isn't. And you can't even go inside because you'd get stuck and die... But Luxor is cool.

    *dodges mummy hand*

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  36. Aik, guilty as charged. I'm coming out with my hands in the air now ;)

    I've stumbled upon your blog sometime ago, and I find it quite interesting because you're living in a completely different world than I am. Almost anyway.

    Well, enjoy your trip to Egypt and I would simply loooove to adopt your mini-biscuits, but I'm afraid I'm too far away. (And far too irresponsible too...who knows, they might drown in milk under my care)

    Have a nice day~

    TTFN~
    (Tata For Now)
    =)

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  37. De-Lurked.
    Hey can I be Marc Antony to your Cleopatra

    *ducks as rotten tomatoes fly past*

    What did the mummy say to the tourists?

    "OK that's a a wrap folks!"

    *Jumps onto Japanese motorbike and speeds away before drooling mob attacks*

    (Word verification: Pudok)

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  38. I am among the chosen few... who read you but don't know who you are...

    Just waiting for the next blogger's meet to see you:-))

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  39. Have a wonderful time with Ra and Osiris

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  40. Have fun in Egypt! De-lurking:-) Do check out my blog all...still on its teething stage.
    Cheers!

    www.constantlyinflux.com

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  41. De-lurking! Bah! What will they think of next?

    And what if there is a terrorist or two reading your blog? They will lose if they comment, wouldn't they?

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  42. Puppies---oooooohhhhh...here is a fav limerick by Ogden Nash

    The Dog

    The truth I do not stretch or shove
    When I state that the dog is full of love.
    I've also found, by actual test,
    A wet dog is the lovingest.

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  43. Loved your post on the features journalism. I'm commenting on the wrong post only because this is a split-second delurking (blink!).

    I'm at http://drawingasong.blogspot.com/

    (question: do two shameless plugs cancel each other's shamelessness out?)

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