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"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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9 November 2007

The evening before Diwali, we are filled with pleasant thoughts

I am full of memories today. Not sad, miserable memories, not memories of specific incidents even. But things from my past that keep swimming into focus.


For instance, I can recall the high, burnished teak bookshelves in the children's section of the Trivandrum public library. I remember the window seat there, the feel of the worn cushion underneath my thighs, a familiar book to be curled up. The biographies of famous people when they were children, in orange binding. Albert Einstein was my favourite. The woman who lived next door to our house then, with her three toy pomeranians that I loved to go play with. How once she lent me a Rupert annual, wrapped up in newspaper. How her grandson came to visit and called dinosaurs 'dinno-sours.' And how, because he was older and spoke with authority, I believed him.



I don't remember faces, but I remember being at the Meridian, talking to another friend. I must have been about fifteen. I don't remember the conversation either, but I remember the sentence: "She faints all the time."

I remember feeding an apple to a tonga horse. I remember being very small, and the horse being very big and feeling the pull of its teeth vibrate my arm.


I remember the taste of the pumpkin curry my maid used to pack with rotis for me after school. I remember (again!) a library, the Shankar children's library at ITO, and sitting in the back reading room, eating my pumpkin sabji and roti and reading a book. The books were bound in red and gold and they had a collection that I could only dream about.


I remember being sick with pneumonia, I remember the exact moment I got sick. I remember coming home from school and falling asleep and not waking for several hours. I remember sleeping a lot and losing a lot of weight and endless blood tests. I don't remember recuperating. Somewhere, buried behind everything, I remember being three years old and having chicken pox and sitting in a blue tub which had floating neem leaves in it. I know you probably won't believe me, but I remember being potty trained, and having a small red portable pot that I dragged around the house.


I remember the first time I held hands with someone and how I didn't realise holding hands could be such fun. I remember wondering what I was feeling when he ran his fingers over my knuckles, why I felt so odd and funny and yearning. I remember the same stomach flutter happening again, many years later, when a boy I thought was cute took my hand while he was driving, just took it, and continued the conversation as though nothing was unusual.


I remember a friend's boyfriend, who used to walk me to school some days, when she wasn't around to walk with me, and who would talk and talk about her. I remember listening to him and feeling a little sorry for him. He used to call me 'Little Freud'. Later, when they broke up, we called him one night, during a sleepover at my house and they fought and he asked to speak to me and told me he loved her and I made a derogatory comment. I remember regretting it instantly and feeling terrible for him. I'm sorry, if you're reading this now, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.



I remember going for a tambola game in Hyderabad, where I dressed up in a salwar kameez, because underaged people weren't allowed and I was trying to pass for sixteen or eighteen, I forget which. I remember my aunt saying, "Look at her eyes shining" and I remember that's the first time I had ever heard that. I had read about it many times, but I thought it was just something people said, not an actual thing your eyes could do.


For no particular reason, I remember the theme from Three's Company. We used to rent the video cassettes of the episodes, and I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Years later, when Zee English started to show it, I watched a few and wondered where the humour had gone. (Come and knock at our door, we've been waiting for you, where the places are hers and hers and his, three's company too.)


And the rest of the stuff I remember isn't quite so distinct. Practicing kissing at ten, the taste of sour figs--tender pink and white, a Russian ballet performance in the winter I turned six and the way a man yelled 'Encore' in the audience, watching Jungle Book over and over again, longing for pointy shoes, rolling down a hill of grass and promptly feeling itchy, watching my dog give birth, a birthday party with disco lights, learning to love music, mentholated cigarettes, being alive.


UPDATE: It has come to my attention that a Malayalam magazine, the name of which I do not know just yet, but I will post once I do, is claiming that I will be doing a column for them where I answer questions. I am NOT doing this column. My name is being used against my wishes, and against my knowledge. If anyone's read this magazine, I'd appreciate the name, and since I do not speak Malayalam, if the editors of the magazine are reading this, please publish a clarification at the earliest. I don't know which "Compulsive Confessor" they mean, but it is definitely NOT, repeat NOT me. Dear legal eagle type readers, is there any action I can take against this?

UPDATE TWO: I found out the name but I'm not going to mention it, they don't deserve the attention.

75 comments:

  1. ...be gentle with yourself.
    You are a child of the universe no less that the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not its clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labour and aspirations, in the busy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham and drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

    -DESIDERATA-

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  2. Dear eM - I have been reading the sad chronicles of your existence for sometime now. You seriously need to get married and move on from these teen masochistic pangs!!! Consult a "shrink" if you feel you are unable to cope.... God bless you and be with you...

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  3. Hey Desiderata, i just read your comment, above mine - you are really "profound".
    Want to know you better....
    Dr Rajiv Sharma at rajiv_s30@hotmail.com

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  4. eM

    I tried to de-lurk a few days back by mailing you but I think the mail didnt reach you(probably 'coz I was mailing from yahoo to gmail, you know). Nevermind I can do that again.
    I knw there's a certain depth in this post the juvenile mind of a 17-year-old can't understand so I wont say anything about the post.

    Anyway, wish you a very happy diwali and if you allow a stranger to do this...*hug* :)

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  5. Lovely post - reminds me of the sardi in Dilli, the warm razais, verandah mein dhoop mein baithna, and much more from the lazy corridors of time bygone!

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  6. You really need to get a new blog. At the least, it will stop idiotic comments and their even more idiotic commenters from blathering on with their ideas of what you should and shouldn't write. Or worse, being gushy.

    For all the brickbats - I think this is some of the best stuff you've written in the recent past. It's too easy to please by ranting or titillating, but this was good.

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  7. oh, and 'Doctor'...wistfulness isn't teen masochism. You want happy bluster? Go join the Rotary Club. Stop your pseudo-psychoanalysing crap.

    and Desiderata - get some real faith. Accept the teachings of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

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  8. i have two things to say to the good doctor:

    one. why are "shrink" and "profound" in apostrophes?

    two. this isn't a dating site. go to shaadi.com, buddy, and stop picking up chicks off my comments page.

    desiderata:um... thanks?

    kashika: nope, no email. and hey, you're as old as you feel :)

    anon: and i read your comment and wanted all that, instead i melt in this horribly muggy weather.

    ??!: one option is, of course, to disable comments entirely.

    oh, and thank you. :)

    fishbowl: thanks!

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  9. Dear eM - Sorry for the truth - it is mostly unpleasent, like medicines! The apostrophes were to let people understand the "words".As far as shaadi.com is concerned I am middle aged & "happily married"( I know the phrase sucks!) and youngstres like you can't really understand "platonic profoundness ". But seriously it should be useful to you with all your yearnings ( natural ) to get married. I am not sure Desiderata is male/female or whatever ( presumably you know her ) but I stand by my belief that what he/she wrote was really profound....we could all heed to it... anyway God bless you all!

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  10. Dear All,
    Just to let you all know of my ignorance & I thought I knew English ....

    I am years behind - I just put Desiderata on Google and found it is a poem by Max Ehrmann...

    I never figured out the first comment was from " anonymous " and thought it was from Desiderata( shows my knowledge of blog world )

    The poem is "PROFOUND " and thanks to you all for making me discover it this pre - Diwali...

    All's well that end's well

    HAPPY DIWALI to you all

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  11. Hi eM....dont bother about all....dctrs...whoever,whtever.whenver. f.....You are a group of crrnt "Stolen Generation"...We can realise from your beautiful illusion...X need crrrnt life...I like tht keep on and

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  12. kinda late in the day, but...heh..maybe i ought to troll for clients on blogs ;-) (kidding)

    another great post, eM

    sympathies for you re: muggy weather.....it's cold here in delhi....and it's raining (on diwali, can you bel it?)....couldn't ask for better weather :)

    have a great diwali...and, um, throw a cherry bomb or two into ex's balcony ;-)

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  13. Minna, oh Minna, please keep blogging-with-comments-enabled, if only to have The Good Doctor comment more often. There's a book hidden somewhere in those comments - time for you to get a second deal with Penguin. :)

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  14. Oh "Doctor" Rajiv Sharma. Desiderata, sadly, was written by a man.
    (I derive much glee from this. You deserved that.)
    http://hobbes.ncsa.uiuc.edu/desiderata.html

    I think anonymous was merely quoting, and not signing off as Dezi.

    Loved the post, Em. Made me sit down and think back to my earliest, and fondest memories

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  15. Oh oops, in my haste to point that out I didn't see that the good doctor had looked it up himself... Sorry!

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  16. I read your blog quite often after finding reference from Saakshi's blog.
    Reading this post make me wonders how different was the India you and I have lived in.

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  17. Sigh...
    It's lovely...
    Much solace at the end of a long day...
    Keep writing..
    Spread the cheer...

    ps its wonderful that the tingly feeling is something that doesn't go away, isn't it:)
    and don't disable comments:)
    pretty please..

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  18. so...it's 5:09 A.M here .and i really don't know what comment to leave here, except I just wanted to write something like hi or something.made me think of my own diwali memories.There aren't many but they are memorable nonetheless.Thank you so much. The lulls in our lives will get better you know.[:)].Hug.

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  19. I have to thank Zee for givng me this blog id..

    very very human.. its beautiful!!

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  20. "platonic profoundness" - what a riot!

    The good doctor-ji obviously hasn't been paying very close attention to the dialogues - I can only imagine his horror when he finally figures out what this Platonic business was all about.

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  21. happy diwali eM! and dont let the weather get to you...u have readers (aka moi) in Canada, who r witnessing snow as we speak! hehe..

    and awesome post...like pointed out above, it makes u sit and think of ur own earlier memories....i also found a few of them to be in libraries....trying to cock my head sideways to read the titles, smelling each book i pulled off the shelf and taking the most "inky" smelling one home..haha..

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  22. eM, that was simply visually fab! I felt like I was right there with you and watching you grow up through so many years in a minute!

    Incidentally, Happy Diwali M'am!

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  23. He's "happily married", and understands "platonic profoundness"?? Wtf?

    Newsflash, "doctor" - quotes = sarcasm. But I suppose these days, entry IS through backside only ('fraid you'll have to Google that too...)

    However, if he is actually being droll, then I guess it's just a case of misery wanting some company.

    Sameer

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  24. hahaha...thalassa_mikra, thank you for articulating exactly what i grinned to myself about when I read the good doctor's comment. When you realise what "Platonic" love is all about, you cringe a bit every time someone uses it to talk about asexuality!

    eM, "I remember the first time I held hands with someone..." Fuck. I thought i'd float away on a cloud of tingly feelings. couldn't sleep, think or even breathe!
    I miss puppy love. But being an adult brought with it lots of other kinds of rush -inducing touching too :)

    happy diwali!

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  25. have an excellent diwali everyone (or your closest festive thing around this weekend, or, for non-practicing anythings, have a good long weekend on the hindus!) i have acquired fairy lights and candles and rangoli thingummies and a care package from my mom with new books and i almost won lots of money at cards last night, so i'm very pleased in general.

    doctor: "this" "means" "you" "DON'T" "mean" "what" "you" "say". although, because i am lovely and kind, i will recommend to learn how NOT to use the apostrophe watch that friends episode where Joey puts it around everything. Heh. "You're welcome".

    thebinafterbigb: every now and then i come across pseudonyms that make me think a little bit. yours is lovely, if a little puzzling. :)

    mistercrowley: awwwwww... now i'm very jealous. sigh. it's sunny and horrible here, although, that does mean i can still wear something sleeveless tonight. :)

    zrs: hahahaha.. i know, i don't think i'll ever shut down comments. some of the ones on this page made me laugh out loud, and like, REALLY, not just a LOL.

    a-hem: well spotted, even if he did google it before you could comment. i looked up the poem too, it was very nice except the last verse i thought. and then i blushed deeply for calling the first anon by the poem's name.

    tania: everyone's india is different. i can bet, if you have siblings, that their relationship with your parents is quite different from yours.

    anon3: no, no i won't disable comments, i just sometimes get cross with crap, in which case my handy delete button is wielded. :)

    it's all about me!: ahhh, random, just wanted to check in comments are good too. :)

    nasia: thank you! :)

    thalassa mikra: hahahaha... i know! maybe we should send him the wikipedia references on the email id he's helpfully provided.

    sarah: thanks. i wish there were more libraries around these days though. the bcl books are soooo... well... SANITISED, that it's just not the same thing.

    melody: thank you! and happy diwali to you too. :)

    sameer: aww... you commented! heh. droll. there's a word i haven't heard in a while!

    anon4: i like SOME fireworks, yes. the ones that have no sound.

    sine qua non: adulthood really doesn't have very much to recommend it except being able to do what you like, which is quite nice, i s'pose. :)

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  26. hi eM!

    recently i read about u in malayala manorama daily and there was an article about u. few days later ur father wrote the compulsive confessor was his daughter. i am not used to blogs..but after reading ur blog..i am interested..its wonderful english and i love the command u have over that..u remind me kamaladas...nice english coming frm heart..keep up writing..be bold and happy..

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  27. Heehee... When I saw the inverted commas I thought of the Friends episode too.

    I wonder if people would recommend JD Salinger get married? I know I'm going to get a lot of raised eyebrows for the comparison but there is a bit of Holden Caulfield in your writing.

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  28. I've been reading your blog pretty regularly, hoping to understand the hoopla around it. While your friends are happy to rah rah around it, it sounds extremely puerile to me. You come off as a 15-year-old, self obsessed, pretentious kid who goes through life. It's not about being a prude (read sites like Nerve.com to know what good sex/sensual writing is about). I wouldn't have even bothered to write in if this was some personal blog. But you think of yourself as Bridget Jones and that deserved a reaction.

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  29. hey there,am from trivandrum, and there has been mention of your blog in our local newspaper.which is how i and probably few from kerala chanced upon your blog.
    i consider personal blogs to be a waste of time and space and still do,having said that i am not judging yours or what you write in it.
    anyways if the magazine has said stuff about you without your consent you should write back and ask for an explanation.
    being objective, i don't think you will get too far with it, since your blog is public and any dimwit knowing point and click can get to your blog and comment on it.
    secondly don't know why you do even care about a hapless local magazine writes about your blog when you didn;t mind international media reporting about it.

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  30. Dear eM, iam from kerala,Recently there was an article in one of themost circulating malayalam newspaers, about your blogs. just out of curiosity, i started reading them, and now am waiting for them,,,, thanks,

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  31. Compulsive Confessor is "sex/sensual writing"?! "Wow!"

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  32. You are back baby. Just loved the post....

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  33. Dear eM - Sorry to gatecrash into your "teenage pangs" party again( I was born rude! ), but as one of your other commentators said you do sound rather "puerile"...
    What is the "big deal" in drinking, smoking, going to a bar, having sex (premarital, marital or extramarital), marriage, your fifteen minutes of fame on this idiot box version ( blogs )... Move on & Grow up all you "lovely & kind "little girls and then maybe we can sit across and discuss "profound" things platonically......with an occasional f... now & then, of which you all seem so enamoured!!!

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  34. eM,
    Desiderata means, to desire or desired things. I hoped you would look the poem up because it's a special one. When I read your post the other day I thought to my self, Ah, this here girl thinks she has lost something (presumptuous?) and maybe I should remind her that nothing is ever lost.
    What does happen to everything though is Change. Thats nothing new. What I have realized is that it takes time to see that there is much Beauty in Change. But to really know that, it takes practice, just like everything else. So what I wanted was to remind you to be gentle, with yourself and with, well, everything else.
    Ok?
    Take care,

    Xxx



    PS: And you're right, the rest of the poem is much lovelier but then it IS rather nice to find that one out for yourself, isn't it?

    PPS (for ??!): Relax! Don't go and get your noodley panties in a bunch just cause something has GOD mentioned in it! Its much too sensitive of you :)

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  35. Hey eM,
    I read your blog from time to time and find it interesting writing...Ive never commented before but felt like today after reading the writings of this clown of a "doctor" and the other fellow who called you puerile...I hate close-minded people like this who try to pass off as intelligent or holier than thou...for the dr I only have to say live your happily married life as you see fit...its really none of your business when or whether eM wants to marry....

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  36. and,further to my last comment dr, if you find this blog to be sad, why do you bother to read it?
    -nc

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  37. Writer above...I was the one that called the blog puerile. And if you had bothered to read my post you'd realise that it wasn't because I was being close minded about it, but because I do honestly thing this sounds like rantings of a 15-year-old. I'm all for being open about sex, sexuality, life etc (god knows we need it in India), but lets hope for a slightly more intelligent conversation from a fairly good writer, than the virtues of smoking while receiving head. Grow up, life happens to all of us.

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  38. Honestly, I don't even care if you do or don't grow up. Stop taking yourself seriously enough to believe that what you're saying or doing is new, insightful or particularly revolutionary. Honestly, that's what annoyed me about this blog. What you say or do about your life is really your personal matter. Given that I don't know you from Adam, I don't care. Just don't think you're changing the world by being the only feminist, Indian girl discussing sex. We've all seen it and most have been there.

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  39. Dear eM,
    Really for the last time ... just let me tell you how true the writer above speaks !
    All that you "imagine" you are doing was done years ago in Kamasutra, Khajuraho and more recently by Parveen Babi and Protima Bedi, not to talk of the western world...Try and go abroad to broaden your horizon ( esp. Scandinavian countries )
    Just enjoy your fifteen minutes of fame, without taking life so seriously...Happy cruising through this journey of life. God bless & Tally Ho...

    P.S. - Can't resist the last piece of medical advice( I am a pathologist and I have seen the autopsy findings of how the liver and lungs look !! ) - Too much alcohol / smoking is not good esp. for women's health. Bye and take care...

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  40. Wow, Such hullabaloo!
    She's just reminiscing for god's sake!

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  41. I cannot understand why eM gets all these stupid comments when there's tons of Indian female bloggers (that includes me) who have very similar blogs and very similar subject matter. Smoking, drinking, partying, men, sex (or lack thereof), Justin Timberlake, jobs, memories, heart-break and everything else that she writes about and everyone loves to hate. Is it a statement against the thousands of other similar blogs or is it a statement against eM personally?

    Because this is all fairly ridiculous.

    It's her bloody blog. She'll write what she wants to. And the simple way of avoiding it if you hate it so much? Stop reading it, and the million other posts in her archives.

    And no, she's really not depressed and angsty and in need of a shrink. She's completely normal. And definitely a lot more fun than all the pathetic people sitting at home typing away furiously, making snap judgments about her. On her own fucking blog!

    Puerile, my ass.

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  42. Hi eM,
    The guy who wrote the article about you in Malayalana Manorama himself is a top blogger in Malayalam. wanna read him ?

    http://berlythomas.blogspot.com/

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  43. scout, i love you. marry me.

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  44. dear blog readers,
    before you eagerly press comment on my writing about coolness because of sex and cigarettes etc, I suggest a little social experiment. Little. It won't hurt, I promise.

    Open the page.
    Press Ctrl + F
    Search for 'sex'
    Search for 'cigarette'
    Search for 'drink'

    OMG! WHAT IS THAT? THERE ARE ACTUALLY SPACES BETWEEN THE WORDS! SHE'S TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE!

    *gasp*

    lovingly,
    eM

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  45. Heh heh..this becomes more and more entertaining.

    Hey eM. Now that there seems to be enough material in these comments for the purpose, how about a new post on, "Guidelines on How to Read eM's Blog"?...something zany...should be fun...

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  46. this is fun...inter-commenter fights! Aate kya khopche mein?

    eM - you're bhelcome.

    Firstly, Anon - touchy? nyaah. Just alternative. Also because I didn't see the point of going all grace/senti-filled in response to this post. That said, yes, I do enjoy the poem too. And mostly, because how can you not want to introduce the world to the FSM?

    Doctor, doctor - For all I know, you're a nice guy, who's concerned about little girls frittering away their lives. That said, did you experience teendom/the twenties - or were you miraculously born "wise"? People need to find their own way - this is hers. You want to help, then help - just don't patronise. You can always leave the party.


    And for all the moralising types reading this - go pick on Scout. She would love some trolls - if only to keep her verbal ass-kicking skills sharp. Which she's going to practice on me soon.

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  47. erm..possibly an inappropriate place to leave this comment...but

    @ ??! - Are there any FSM churches in India? Will slightly cold bolognaise sauce do for an offering? heh

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  48. Hi Em,U r a perceptive wrtr after Arundati Roy....U have to buld after gandhsm.communism "Em-ism"...Those dscrge fckrs get in fck of maxm this blog..and leve her alone....do not publish....in"Papers".....thts marketism but this blog "ur lifism"

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  49. I just happened to be passing by your blog again to see if you had posted a new entry , but looks like the comments section seems to be doing the job.[:D].For a while anyway.Wow, There are so many people out there who just want to snark at you ( i love that word now , btw). Let's leave her alone shall we? and write nice things about her?cause it's her blog .HER BLOG. she can write whatever she wants. And oh I just read the poem , it's lovely and just right for reading every other day when you wake up.
    hugs

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  50. Well... I just thought you would find it interesting to hear that you were in Austrian radio just half an hour or so before... (actually, that's how i found your blog ;)) and although I don't understand the worts that seem indian to me, i think it's really interesting and I'll continue reading... :)

    Butterfly

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  51. You have a fair chance at a lawsuit against the writer of the article, and the periodical that it was published in.
    This would depend on whether your name (or any other identifying information) was specifically mentioned in the piece while falsely attributing any statement to you or providing any gross misinformation about you.
    The extent of the lawsuit would depend on the damage (emotional/ reputational) that you can prove resulted from the untruths that were published.
    That being said, the process would involve you getting a lawyer to represent you and the case could take a long time to resolve, unless the paper settles with you outside court.
    There is also the question of publicity that may not all be welcomed. You may well find yourself standing in a grubby witness box, in front of a bunch of leering lawyers while some of your more intimate posts are read out to you.
    You also open yourself up to return lawsuits from the moral brigade who will have a good case against you for public lewdness and obscenity - especially in your new home town where actresses and models have found themselves dragged off to the police station for much less than what is found on your blog.
    My professional advice? Remove any references to your real name from your blog and respond to any media coverage that crosses the line with a simple letter to the editor calling them on it.

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  52. It is her personal BLOG, not a DIARY. It's been put out there in the public forum, so reactions (whether she likes them or disagrees with them) are to be expected. And seriously, stop attacking people because they have issues with your blog. See what they have to say, see if you can get something out of it, and move on. This is ridiculous. And as someone said earlier a little bit like a 15-year-old who can't handle criticism

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  53. I have been reading you for a while now eM.

    I am sure you are aware of the fact that as a free and public medium, a blog invites discussion. But your fans seem to be becoming more and more intolerant to criticism... if you have thought about this medium seriously, you would yourself appreciate the openness and hence the beauty of blogging as a public medium. Please don't become a total blogging superstar like say Rajnikant.( With fans armed to the teeth and ready to tear down movie screens if their hero gets slapped in a scene ) Your blogging entourage is growing and becoming dangerous to your own growth as a writer.

    ..and yes, like you have already noticed, you have become a celebrity in the malayalam blog world as well, everyone is talking eM! Sadly,all discussions are about how this girl is writing about her sex life... but can you deny it is not a conscious effort from your side to project that image?.. your writings definitely reflect such an inclination..

    Good luck with the book eM, will buy it, and def not for voyeuristic pleasure.. maybe some humor? Now do I get ready to be slaughtered by your commenting army?

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  54. While I don't really have a problem with your blog, it's completely ridiculous for you to claim that you write on things other than relationships, sex, alcohol, cigarettes etc. That is your selling point. That's what you promote. Your sexuality, and the frankness thereof, is why you got picked up my papers. So really don't delude yourself into believing you write things of national importance beyond that. The spaces in between are still all really leading up to the same thing. Reality check lady!

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  55. yes anonymous i agree.
    the selling point here is making your private life completely public, being overly blunt about it and spicing it up with generous amounts of sex,alcohol and other bs.i admit theres some nice humor to make it appealing but if you think this blog is original, you haven't seen sex and the city.

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  56. I guess all this is a revelation that a vast number of people think it is unusual for women in India to have sex before marriage, smoke and have drunken binges. That's why only these aspects get focussed on by some people even if the author didn't actually intend it to be more than a chronicle of life. I don't think there was any claim here that topics of national import are going to be discussed - however, to say that the small stories are not important at all is wrong too.

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  57. sigh
    if a blog has comments enabled
    sans moderation
    you're going to get both positive and negative ones...
    if eM didn't want to hear them she'd remove comments altogether...and of course she has a right to respond to the comments
    there all settled
    "sameer" i knew it was you before I scrolled below entry from backside only
    PS: I wnat more doctor comments so very entertaining...

    ReplyDelete
  58. I started reading your blog after reading a mail from your father in the malayalam newspaper claiming that meenakshi reddy as written in the earlier news ( i missed it :() is actually meenakshi reddy madhavan and she is my daughter...

    Good writg meenakshi... and keep it up . No wonder your father was proud to announce you

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  59. Dear Legal Eagle / Any other experienced blogger,

    One small advice - Is it best to go around with concealed identities on blogging / commenting? Isn't it like going around in a burqa - saying / doing things you don't have the guts to say under your real name / identity.

    To me it feels like the ultimate sham....

    Topic is open to the house ...

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  60. P.S. Isn't it time people stood up to be counted rather than just lurk behind like what we used to call in good old times "cowards"... which probably now should be "bloggers"!!!

    Is that the way this planet is going to evolve.....people saying things and running away

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  61. Um... remember me? The person whose blog this is?
    Nothing is open to the house till i say so. Technically, TECHNICALLY, it's my house. Also, yes, yes, public forum blahdiblahblah but then, STOP coming to my blog if it pisses you off so much. I'm not holding a gun to your head saying READ. NOW. OR DIE. people who defend me have a right to do so, actually, MORE of a right to have a say here than you do, because, in case you haven't noticed? THIS BLOG IS ABOUT ME! Not you. Not Indian women in general. Not a comment on the urban mileu. ME. All me. 24/7. Book deals, publicity, whatever. Still all about me. You don't have to like it, but take the haterade elsewhere. I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

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  62. also wheeeeeee i'm on austrian radio! what did they say about me?

    eidelweissssssssss, eideeeeeeeeelweissssssss, every morning you greet me.

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  63. "P.S. Isn't it time people stood up to be counted rather than just lurk behind like what we used to call in good old times "cowards"... which probably now should be "bloggers"!!!

    Is that the way this planet is going to evolve.....people saying things and running away"

    ROFLMAO at the comment above from goog/bad doctor, considering he is posting this anonymously.

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  64. eM you suck and so does your blog, Stop trying to be a desi Carrie Bradshaw or a Bridget Jones, face it babe, you just don't have it!!! I wanted to laugh when I heard about your supposed book deal...Who on this earth would buy a book when they can get to read all your crap online....

    Get serious and get a life....

    Your blog reeks of stale ciggies....

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  65. Hmm...the hate mail (or rather comments) seem to be gone up lately. I was wondering why you started off your latest post with "No one comments" since this one had 67 of them, but the anon crowd seems to have a monopoly here. But does make for some entertainment as long as they can be a little more original. :-)

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  66. this was a lovely post ! funnily... :) even i remember sitting in a red tub filled with neem leaves when i had chicken pox

    I cannot write for nuts..or maybe I can't express myself so well :) but anyway.... This post really made me want to start a blog and write ! :)
    after reading the post...memories just rushed in and I remembered a number of things which made me giggle my ass and cringe off....
    sigh !

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  67. eM, i guess the malayalam mag ur mentioning is malayala manorama. i read in one of their sunday editions abt this blog..

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  68. Meenakshi,
    You may be mentioning about the magazine Vanitha....they are running an interview with you in this edition... searched for you blog after seeing the interview..
    Btw, your blog is fantastic...what guts man... really appreciate it... cool... original... Remember the "original" dialogue from "The Autum in NewYork"
    Regards,
    Fauzia

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  69. Hi Sajith P.Nair here, em I read your interview in a magazine... That's fine but you are going a bit deep I think...

    Wish you all success...

    Take Care

    Saji

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  70. Hi, am a lawyer. Was wondering how, if you didn't give that interview on the Vanitha - Malayalam Magazine - how did they publish it? It claimed to be an interview. If it is a false publication then they have committed a punishable crime. I remember reading it a month or two back. However I came across your blog only today. I find your blog interesting. Simply great. You ought to sue Vanitha for compensation if they published the article without your consent.

    ReplyDelete

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