1

Amma said I can go by myself

posted on , by Vani Viswanathan

This morning, I woke up convinced that I was going on a much-awaited trip... until I realized that it was a dream and my much-awaited trip was cancelled last week due to the Jat agitations and road/railway blocks. For a few disoriented moments, I sat up on the bed staring at the bag I had packed for this trip (that I still haven't had the heart to unpack). This would have been my second solo trip, and the month of February has gone by without me stepping out of Delhi/NCR (blasphemy, in the ...

Read More
0

On baring it all

posted on , by Vani Viswanathan

Managed my 'Pakkathaathu Ponnu' post-of-the-week on the last day of the week! I also wonder if  I should rethink the 500-word limit. I always seem to have a lot to say and cutting down on my typical way of writing doesn't seem fair. Let's see what next week brings!  Yesterday, I chanced upon The Guilty Feminist podcasts, in which the first episode was on a ‘nu6ity challenge’ that the hosts took up, where they went in the nu#e someplace and posed for people to sketch or photograph. As ...

Read More
3

Not-in-the-house

posted on , by Vani Viswanathan

For some background to what Pakkathaathu Ponnu means, see this. Growing up, nothing quite infuriated me more than the words “aathula illa”, literally “she’s out”, an annoying euphemism for being on your period. My grandma would generously “warn” folks visiting us about my "condition", lest they unknowingly touch me, while I would be quietly seething with anger in a corner of the house. In case you’re lucky enough to not know what I’m talking about, many families believe that menstruating ...

Read More
0

Pakkaathathu Ponnu

posted on , by Vani Viswanathan

(literally, the girl next door, in Tamil typically spoken by Brahmins) Let’s start off by saying I’ve lived a life of privilege: born into a middle class, Indian upper caste family, with parents who didn’t think twice about my education, or bemoan the fact that their second child, me, was also a girl, and gave me three massive boosts in life: 1    independence to go out on my own 2.   an overseas education at 17 3.   allowing me to marry someone I “found” And ...

Read More