“The object of terrorism is terrorism. The object of oppression is oppression. The object of torture is torture. The object of murder is murder. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?” ― George Orwell, 1984 ** Do we understand this simple fact about terrorism and the state-sponsored terror that counters […]
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Author: Reema Moudgil
The Story ..
It’s not love but the story we fall for the story we seek in the mundane, the ordinary, the predictable we look for signs for stars in dust for songs to come alive for messengers to arrive from distant lands bringing gifts of hope, faith and trust of answers to questions dragging their feet […]
The Way They Were..
Not everything is perfect. Nor should it be. There are flaws and cracks and smudges in every work of art but if there is heart in it..people flow with a story, a song, a character. In the last few weeks, following stories about displacement and corrupt governance has alienated me from films and television […]
Democracy Is Such A Lonely Word..
“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”-Benjamin Franklin ** It is 10 am and near Bangalore’s Austin Town Circle, a crowd is slowly gathering around the Ambedkar statue. Young students from St Joseph’s college, volunteers from NGOs, nuns, workers of assorted political parties, […]
Infamy As Fame
Guilt today is a global media event. So when Lance Armstrong finally answered the big question about his integrity in the widely televised interview with a, “I’m not the most believable guy in the world right now,” Oprah Winfrey almost brought back her under-performing OWN network from the brink. Lance could have given a newspaper […]
Painting A Dream
She reminds me of Umrao because she really was. The young Umrao in Muzaffar Ali’s 1981 classic film, I mean. Years later I met her as an artist in her own right, not just as the daughter of MS Sathyu and writer Shama Zaidi. ** Recently, I met her again at the Sathyu home […]
Whose Republic Is It Anyway?
What is the meaning of a republic? Is it a selectively amnesiac entity where bull dozers run over and flatten the lives and dignity and pets and homes and belongings of the poor while builders advertise gated communities protected from the “noise and the pollution” of the big metros for the benefit of those they […]
An Evening With Salman Rushdie
There are so many versions of him. The Salman Rushdie present at Bangalore’s Taj West End tonight however was someone tangible. Someone who with great ease settled in an uncomfortable chair on the podium, not aware or maybe aware of the discreet logistics and forbidding security measures that had finally made his presence possible in […]
Memory..
The needle point of pain is fire and ice it’s the knowing and the not knowing the near and the far presence and absence the found and the lost A pain both old and young that knows how to smile at itself and be petulant. It is home in the cozy grooves of the heart. […]
Magic..Like That Only…
LikeThatOnly’s signage befuddles me to start with. It is like..a jaunty scooter developed butterfly wings that turned into a Japanese fan. But then who said dreams should make sense and that is what this young, spirited restaurant in Bangalore’s Whitefield is. A dream sequence right from the whimsical tub with its watering can shower in the […]
Weekend At Alila..
It is Saturday night. Over roasted pumpkin soup, lawn cooled breeze and tinkling water that gleams in a long horizontal ribbon next to my feet, I feel a bit displaced. This is Bangalore, right? Just a few hours ago, I was choking over traffic fumes as I made my way to Alila, a relatively new hotel […]
Beyond The Impossible
The Impossible opens to the shot of a blank screen roaring like the sea..as if gathering all its might for a kill but then you realise it is just an airplane carrying a family away to a Christmas vacation. The family of five..unpacks mundane conversations in a picture perfect tropical beach resort just a few […]