I’m reading Kalki Selected Short Stories, translated from Tamil by Gowri Ramnarayan. Highly recommend. The collection is full of period […]
When your playlist gives you away: Kalki’s 1930s/40s Tamil-style mood coding Read Post »
Of late, I’ve been hearing MS Subbulakshmi’s Venkateswara Suprabhatam every morning. After a few days, I started catching the small
A simple guide to the Venkateswara Suprabhatam “playlist” Read Post »
I grew up speaking Tamil, yet to this day I can’t make head or tail of the Tamil news on
Why does the Tamil News feel like a foreign film without subtitles (to me)? Read Post »
We spent years accusing Hindi movies of copying Hollywood—everything from Anu Malik’s musical inspirations to entire plotlines being imported wholesale
If you’ve ever wondered how Carnatic singers manage to make a single note feel alive, bending, sliding, wobbling, and moving
We sang the Jana Gana Mana every morning in school. Some students sang with full gusto. Some mumbled. Some moved
The Carnatic wobble in the Jana Gana Mana anthem Read Post »
There’s a question that has been sitting at the back of my mind for years, tugging at me each time
There are hymns you listen to, and then there are hymns that feel like they’re propelling you forward. Ayyagiri Nandini
Ayyagiri Nandini: The Ancient Hymn That Sounds So… Modern Read Post »
Cassette tapes were everywhere in our house—devotional, light music, MS, Bombay Sisters, random. Most of the time, I ignored them
More Than Just Hymns: A Musical Journey Through India’s Sacred Songs Read Post »
