Dharan Diaries
I share my thoughts here. Currently, these would be jottings till I can divide them into thematic groups. Like in a diary, I write here what I like and what I think, but with the hope that some of these might interest others too.
Aren't we all travelling together? Ready to read?
Why don't these horses in gold mine can't see or run?
I read this true story a long time ago, about ponies in gold mines in Africa. I remember this story for its 2 conceptual insights. [Then they explain: These ponies come down when they are little, legs tied. Then they grow up inside the mine. Since it's dark in here, they lose their eyesight within a few months. They are blinded for life. They neither run nor neigh. All they do is eat, carry the load, and wait for the next day to repeat. When one of them dies, it is cut into pieces for meat and taken up.]
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Sarpatta (The Boxers' Clan): Why should you watch this movie?
#NewVideo uploaded on my English YouTube channel! Where I introduce and discuss the new hit Tamil movie called 'Sarpatta Parambarai,' which is available on OTT Prime Video with English subtitles. Why should you watch this movie? Which elements stand out? And what could have been better? This video flows from my conviction that we need to cross the barriers (like language) to reach out and appreciate work by artists who are creating for humanity...
On YouTube. And Life. A conversation with my son.
"Appa, remember, I used the tea-filter + a cut-piece from my underwear to create my first pop filter?"
"I do. With that, you and Keerthi won the 1,000 dollars nationwide open-for-all 'Song for Better Fiji' music competition!"
(Backstory: We were in Fiji. Kids in school. Abhi's budding period as a musician...
Book Intro: TheriGatha - Poems of the First Buddhist Women
Today is Buddha's birthday.
This book is said to be the first-ever compilation of poems exclusively by women. Belonging to about 2600 years ago, Theri Gatha (Sayings of the Elders) contains poems by women Buddhist monks. Harvard University Press has brought out a beautiful English translation by Charles Hallisey, under the Murty Classical Library of India series.
I translated a few of these poems into Tamil and shared them today with the Tamil audience. Here are some of the lines from Hallisey's English version.