pen.books.and.scalpel

What once used to be a ‘green city’ and ‘The Paris of the South’ is now turning grey and is choking. Don’t take me wrong, I love travelling. I have been to a few places as a tourist, and I have always sensed a kind of hostility from the natives. I used to wonder why. But when I started being the native myself, I finally understood the reason.  Tourism is a very important industry that helps my place thrive. Job opportunities for locals are blooming, and people are happy to welcome outsiders to enjoy our place, including me. But now, things have changed. The reason? Partly the government, and partly a few irresponsible visitors.  1. The cheap alcohol gimmick What once used to be our unique selling point has now become an overrated and unwanted attraction for the town. There’s a bar or liquor store every 100 meters, and that has put many lives at risk. It has turned several locals into alcoholics who do not know how to drink responsibly or socially, adding to the disease and soc...

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding a recent Tamil movie for its diabolical portrayal of the female protagonist. In the film, the female lead falls in love with the male protagonist and proposes to him who dismisses her initially. But when he falls back in love with her 6 months later, she is already with someone else who soon gets pregnant with his child but is now forced to marry the male protagonist owing to circumstances. The hero is well aware of her situation and still proceeds to “fake marry” her so that he can unite the lovers silently later while sacrificing his love. And then, he is heartbroken. At the end, the heroine lives a life she always needed but at the cost of his. Now do you see where all the problems started? Don't you?    The movie could have silently portrayed the struggles of both protagonists as they navigate life through this complex situation. It would have been widely accepted and also would have served as a solution for the modern-day problems....

As someone born in the 90s, something I truly miss doing in this bustling world is writing a letter to a loved one. The ease of sending a WhatsApp message, an Instagram DM, or an email has brought down the joy of writing on a piece of paper, sealing it carefully inside an envelope, and securing it with glue or tape. We took pleasure in walking to the post office, affixing a stamp before posting it and waiting anxiously until we knew the mail had reached the recipient. Modern times have certainly reduced the waiting time and the efforts involved, but the joy of the process is lost with time. The future generations might never know that feeling. THE BEGINNING The first letter I ever wrote was to my maternal grandfather. As a well-read man with a love for books and writing, his shelves were always brimming with personal and professional postcards and letters. We would often watch him unwrap the letters one by one, carefully stacking them in order. Whenever the table was left empty, we wou...

“My husband cooked today,” is a common phrase that usually raises a lot of heads and rolls a lot of eyes whenever I say it at a family gathering or a meet-up. I know exactly what they expect me to say to fit me into that ideal wifey box. Or sometimes, they just don't so that they can boast about being one while I am not. Yes! I work 9 to 5, cover emergency shifts, wake early in the morning to cook breakfast and lunch and steal time in between to come back home defeated only to cook dinner again would have made me look perfect in their eyes. But sadly, I ain't that and my bare minimum husband understands our responsibilities as a couple.    Yes, women are doing it, and kudos to them for their energy and commitment. But my schedule doesn't allow me the same. When I and my husband got married 4 years ago, my schedule was even more chaotic, and he stepped up. He made sure we did not starve in between our hectic work and personal lives. What facilitated his taking up cooking ...

Well, many of you know that biryani which is made with dedication and love on the day of Eid, eaten together as a family, and shared with the loved and needy is the star dish of the special day. But the real hero, the underrated gem of the occasion is the Eid breakfast prepared as early as dawn before rushing to prayers only to have it after our obligations are done.   In a Tamil Muslim household, idly with chicken curry or gravy is always the norm as far as I have known. I know that it has been the talk of the town recently but trust me when I say we have been having this combo in every Tamil household ever since. It has been passed down generations and is one of the best, criminally undervalued combinations ever to exist. To have a chunk of soft, cushiony idly dipped in the aromatic, spicy chicken curry with a soft, succulent piece of meat as the first meal of the day is a blessing. Rarely do maida or wheat parottas appear as add-ons if Ma has time and a helping hand.  ...

I recently discovered the mood board by chance and haven’t stopped using this GenZ-found trend ever since. I cannot describe in words how therapeutic it is, especially when I am down and exhausted and don’t want any major writing or reading done. So, for a lot or all of this writing challenge, you are going to see me posting mood boards one after the other.   I am someone who tries to keep emotions and memories related to a person or place alive through food, among many other things. And here is a mood board, or more like a food board, including all the food that reminds me of my year-long stay in Odisha last year. We did have bad and worst food days as well, but I am going to brush them off because I did find some of the best food memories there.    The Cuttack Biriyani - One of the major struggles I faced in Odisha apart from learning their nuanced language and their indifference to Hindi was finding a food that would match my South Indian palate. But it did not ta...

I am not gonna lie, but I was momentarily fascinated by the current “viral” Studio Ghibli trend before returning to my senses. The number of posts and reels on this trend that popped into my feed is humongous and is still going on. It’s mind-numbing, to say the least. But can we really blame people for using it? Because any trend will trick people into trying it with all the buzz surrounding it. We are humans, after all, and we do fall for simple things in life. But why is this trend not so simple, and why did the original creator express dissatisfaction with this?   To help you understand the depth of this issue, I am sharing two versions of a same story, one of which I wrote. Here comes the first one.   VERSION 1