There have been occasions when I have had the pleasure, a dubious pleasure some might say, of overhearing conversations at unexpected moments and in unexpected places. I have not gone in search of snooping around expecting to pick up spicy gossip from strangers. I am not that kind of person. Things just happen. One minute …
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The Winter’s Tale
The English winter – ending in July, to recommence in August. Lord Byron. I have been turning my mind to the weather lately. There is just the hint of a cold snap in the air and most of us are rubbing our hands in joyful anticipation at the onset of winter. Now, I do realise …
Bingeing on subtitles
At the outset, let me make it abundantly clear that my specific focus with respect to this article is on English serials and movies on home television with the aid of subtitles. Home television because I have all but stopped visiting cinema halls, even with our state-of-the-art multiplexes offering plush seats at extortionate rates with …
If you must deny, sound plausible
The important thing is we maintain plausible deniability. Richard M. Nixon. The accepted definition of the term ‘plausible deniability’ is the ability to deny knowledge or responsibility for actions taken by others, even if one was involved or at least wilfully ignorant. It’s often used by high-ranking officials to avoid blame when illegal or unpopular …
‘Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything’
In his comedy As You Like It Shakespeare, as is his wont, gave us one of his long declamations, waxing eloquent about Man’s seven ages. I am talking about the ‘All the world’s a stage’ speech. From the newborn baby puking all over the place to the spavined geriatric whose every faculty was being threatened …
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Deepavali and Diwali. One festival. Two facets.
Caveat: This piece was written nearly a decade ago and published in the Deccan Chronicle. It is being presented here with some added embellishments and cosmetic changes. I am counting on the fact that more people would not have read it than have. And among those few who have, only a handful might recall having …
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An Orwellian redux – 1984 meets 2024
I am not sure if Big Brother is watching you, but by now there is hardly anyone left with a mobile phone who has not received a call from an unknown number to which, if you absent-mindedly respond, a seductive, recorded voice will coo these magic words, ‘This is a call from the Telephone Regulatory …
New, improved YouTube spruces itself up
I’m sure if Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be doing classic guitar solos on YouTube. Peter Capaldi. Not all that long ago, watching YouTube was considered a harmless way of passing the time, if you had precious little else to do. Nothing of earth-shattering importance was ever seen on this free-to-air channel, but we could …
Scientists uncover new facets of the Vermeer girl
You’re just too good to be true / Can’t take my eyes off you. Frankie Valli. Whenever a conversation amongst people with an artistic bent of mind turns to the great painters over time, invariably the names of Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet, da Vinci, Dali, Picasso and a few others would tend to …
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One-song wonders
I was lunching at a much-frequented club in Bangalore last week with a few old school friends, old being the operative word. Just to be clear, we were class mates in school about 60-plus years ago and this was one of those nostalgic, beery get-togethers we periodically indulged in. The WhatsApp message from our Group …
Suresh's Corner 