Out With Junk…. By Vengrai Parthsarthy The ‘Anjana Petti’ of our grandma’s days can be claimed to be the forerunner of the idea from which the ‘Organiser’ concept has spread to America! The’petti (box) which is still in vogue used to be a round box with ten or twelve tiny containers for storing, pepper, fenugreek,…
Hallowed be thy Name By Vengrai Parthasarathy There is a romance attached to names, names like Juliet, Cleopatra and Helen They demand attention and conjure up visions of their romantic escapades. There are of course names like Heidi (the madam), and Monica Lewinsky the errant intern of Clinton fame, which straightaway put you off. though some romance is attached to…
Colonel and Me…… (Vengrai Parthasarathy) “A loaf of bread cost a mere six pence then and when they increased it to seven, there was a big howl”, recounted Robert , an Air force veteran., as he got…
_____________________________________________ The tram rides of a different era By Vengrai Parthasarathy 07th September 2011 10:53 PM Those were the days which only Chennaites in their seventies will remember. In the Thirties and Forties the rumblings of trams were heard in all the main arteries of Madras. Those were leisurely days when no one was in a…
Krishna Drops a Brick By Vengrai Parthasarathy Krishna our hero, was a ‘Made in USA‘ guy, born and educated in Texas. This fourteen-year old liked to be calledChris, the name given by his American friends. Chris had a Western accent and a slight drawl which sounded funny when he tried tospeak in his mother-tongue Kannada.. It appeared it was mostly…
Owning Responsibility ……………..VENGRAI pARTHASARATHY Sri Karunakaran Swamy, noted for his anecdotal discourses , related an episode from the Ramayana in a lecture. The hump-back Mantharai had poisoned Kaikeyi’s mind which led to Rama’s exile and ultimately to heart-broken Dasaratha’s death. Mantharai was rewarded with many pieces of jewelry by Kaikeyi, almost weighing her down. Shatrughna…
AND NOW TOMORRROW By Vengrai ParthasarathyThe guide at the San Diego Wild Animal Park was in an expansive mood as all tour guides are. He was introducing the bird EMU,a large, flightless bird of…
Nandan’s Rude Awakening * * * ___________________________Vengrai Parthasarathy___________________________ Nandan was a high profile officer in an export firm. He was tall and handsome as his wife Radha was charming and petite. She was a Lecturer in a Women’s college. The report is that he fell for her…
by Vengrai Parthasarathy LITERARY ODDITIES Proper words in proper places’ was how Jonathan Swift defined style’ in literature. That is something not hard to find. There are countless illustrations if one only looks out for them in classics by master-writers. On the other hand, some hold the opinion that it should suffice, if, depending on the effect…
O Beloved God-mother By Vengrai Parthasarathy “Ma Telugu Thalli”—is a haunting offertory to “God-Mother Telugu” This is a free translation, not conforming to meter or other poetic parameters . Surya Kumari a comely actress with a mellifluous voice…