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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23 November 2010

And I grew strong, I learned how to get along

So, I just got back from seeing Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows and unlike any of the other Potter films, I actually really enjoyed this one. Of course, there were a few areas where I had to nit pick, but either I’m getting more tolerant of beloved books being adapted for the screen or they’re getting better at making them. SO GOOD. I can’t wait for part 2!

 

Big achievement was actually getting there without losing my way at all. At which point you’re going to be all, “But you used to live here!” and I am once again going to point out that I am map challenged. One. Map. At. A. Time. I might be able to multitask, but geography? Very hard to do. And then I even made it back home, except the back way to my house was locked and so I had to u-turn and go all the way back and retrace my steps, and I did all this without getting lost once, and aren’t you proud of me? Except my parking spot’s a bitch, between a pole and a motorcycle and the area I live in is notorious for bad parking, still, at least they left me a spot, and after spending half an hour reversing and going forward multiple times, I managed to squeeze it in, a little lopsided, hopped out and found my gate was locked. And I banged on it and yelled, and called friends to commiserate while I banged and yelled, until I thought, “Hang on. That’s odd that they’d lock it and the guard would be away” so experimentally, I began to yank the gate a bit and it gave, and then I realised I had either a) not realised it was open this entire while or b) broken the lock with my superhuman-wanting-to-go-to-my-warm-bed strength. Erm. Yes. Let’s say, for the sake of my already faltering ego that it’s option b. Why already faltering? Well, because today my passenger side window wasn’t rolling up properly, so I thought I’d hop out and push it up while I pressed the button not realising that turning the car on (so I could operate the aforementioned button) would automatically lock the doors. Safety feature. So there I was. Locked out of my car, which was on. Surrounded by the amused faces of all the help in the locality. Luckily, the passenger window’s a bit screwed, so it was down an inch (yes, the same passenger window I got out to fix, I get the irony here) and the driver next door stood on a chair, used two sticks like chopsticks and managed to pull the lock open. ALSO. Now everyone knows how to steal my car. Brilliant. Good day’s work, I’d say.

 

If they ask about the yelling I’ll just look very confused and say it must’ve been someone else. I’m really good at looking very confused.

 

So, all my stuff’s here from Bombay, which is awesome, because except for a gas connection, I basically have a fully functioning kitchen and I can actually begin to believe I live here now. For the moment. I hate saying “for good” because you might as well sign up for a retirement fund then. “For good” is like saying, “I plan to have no other adventures” and I hope my life is full of adventures. At the moment, I am in an adventurous mood, so I hope something fun (Himalayan trek? Scuba diving in the Andamans? Wedding in Lahore?) comes up  and I get to do it. I’ll even settle for a nice, exciting fling, leaving both parties completely satiated and with the sense that it was a job well done. But man wise, it’s been rather slow. I know, I know, I am so brand new at being single that I should take it easy. Be all wise and see what happens. But you gu-huys, it’s such romantic weather! And I always smell nice, ALL THE TIME, during the winter! And I have such nice new clothes and my hair is behaving and my flat is all ready and the terrace is really romantic coz it might get a little nippy and then you have an excuse to be really close to a person and drink lots of wine. I’m not quite ready for another relationship, in fact, I want to take it easy in that department for a little while, but to rephrase Janis Joplin, “Oh lord, won’t you send me someone nice to flirt with? Someone really cute who I won’t get hurt with?”

 

What else is nice is that my planner’s all filling up. God, I love this time of the year. And I got my first two bits of mail today—an invite and a book (for my column). It feels proper when you get mail.

 

I also really liked my outfit today, so I’m going to write about that too. Just for my own personal satisfaction, and this is the last paragraph so you can totally skip it. I wore grey riding breeches (Sarojini Nagar, with suede on the inner thighs and the bum, and they make me look very nice and skinny), a jersey polo neck thing, that I usually wear as an inner, but in this in between weather serves as a top, a vintage Chinese vest that I stole from my mother’s cupboard (she hadn’t used it in ages, it’s green silk with huge flowers embroidered on and those little cloth buttons that clasp) and new purple suede ballet flats (which pinched my toes, but I’m sure they’ll open up soon).  Okay, it sounds a bit odd written down, but I assure you it was a lovely  ensemble.

 

And if you’ve read this far, I feel like I should say something very erudite and intellectual to make up for the complete flakiness of that last paragraph, but I can’t think of anything beyond comparing The Deathly Hallows to Hitler’s Germany in the way that it was stylised and shot, very Holocaust and I’m probably very late to that realisation but it just hit me today, so I thought I’d mention it. Especially the bits when they’re in the Ministry of Magic and everyone’s being interrogated for being mudblood or half blood. Brilliant.

14 comments:

  1. Hey! Me just back from the movie as well! And just like you, even though I've not been a fan of the film series by ANY stretch of imagination, i really enjoyed this one!

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  2. I'm totally willing to organize 'the' wedding in Lahore if YOU're in for the adventure :) ..
    delurking here for the first time though have been a regular reader for quite some time now..all the best for your new beginning..and great post btw (as usual) ! ..cheers..

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  3. The only things I can reliably say are consistently perky throughtout the winter are my nipples.

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  4. so all in all u had a a very blonde day eh! :P happens

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  5. hey! himalayan treks are just perfect to make you realise a few facts of life that you already know...hmm like...there is afterall a lot to be experianced and you can do it by yourself, on your own too!
    or
    that problems are mostly the the size and shape (or no shape) of an amoeba etc.

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  6. didn't read your post, but one feels cheated after watching one half of the film...must be the most profitable intermission(!). Lord of the Rings, which were quite decent films, could've been made 9 at this rate..i liked the movie, but most likely will not remember it by the time the next one is released one yr hence (hurray for DVD sales!!)

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  7. BUT did you think that they took a dig at Twilight when Hermione starts telling the story of the Deathly Hallows and she says "...were walking at Twilight" and Ron interrupts to say "Midnight" and she throws him that strange look. I know they said the same thing in the book, but it sure seemed like a dig to me :)

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  8. fantastic post. and on the subject of 'for good', you might want to check this out.

    i swear i am not a bot. in fact, that isn't even my blog! :)

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. You make a very pertinent point, actually, drawing parallels between pureblood mania and the Nazis. JKR was inspired by something called the Nuremberg laws/Mischling Test which decided how to treat/punish Jews who married into German families. Or to decide how much Jewish blood a person had. Disgusting.

    Also, nice blog :)

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  11. Hey...i haven't been following ur blog..been busy lately...BTW this is my first comment i ever made..(H)....so tell u wot..i loved that banging and yelling part..and for the car-gone-crazy situation, i wish i cud hav seen ur face..i cant help laughing..:P:P

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