I am not a writer either by profession or habit. For me writing became a form of catharsis, as I
felt I could express and share my thoughts, dilemma and concerns. From time to time my writings
have appeared, often persuaded by friends or journalists and occasionally by my own need to reach
out.
When I started blogging , I didn't even know what the word blog meant. But it certainly opened a
free space for expression and interaction. But the anonymity the responders enjoyed, I didn't. Some
of the blogs were responded by unwarranted below the belt comments and aggressive remarks, and I
found myself getting defensive and agitated. The last of the series was a blog I wrote about Mahatma
Gandhi and to my horror, the venomous attack on him became the last straw and I stopped blogging.
Since then, in 2005, random writings continued and only in August 2009 mustered courage to write
a monthly column for the magazine, The Week, in their section Last Word . There is no dearth of
subjects that I would want to share, but in the midst of all the other things I do, the deadline
still appears from nowhere! As Douglas Adam said, ‘I love deadlines. I specially love the swooshing
sound they make as they fly by'.
Last Word in 'The Week'
- The Excitement of Responsibility, July 2010
- A look at Cannes, June 2010
- Beyond IPL, May 2010
- Hasman of Our Times, Apr 2010
- Tug of Two Cities, Mar 2010
- When Fair is Lovely, Feb 2010
- Come, Dive With Me, Jan 2010
- Discovering a ritual beyond rituals, Dec 2010
- Children's Film Society, India, Nov 09
- To read or not to read, Oct 09
- Traveling the festivals, Sept 09
- Joy of Giving Week, Aug 09
- Time to ‘be' July 09
Other Writings that have appeared in the Press
- The Year Gone by, December 2009
- God and I, The Times of India, 15th December 2009
- The forgotten empathy, April
2009
- A Response to the Firaaq
Controversy, March 2009
- Women's Day, March 2009
- Moral
Policing, January 2009
- Mumbai
Attacks - A Stream of Consciousness, November 2008
- Baba,
October 2005
- On being
part of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, May 2005
- On visiting
Galle, Sri Lanka after the tsunami disaster, January 2005
- On the rape
incident in a parking lot in New Delhi, October 2003
- The journey of making Firaaq
- How I remember Habib Sa'ab , The Times of India
- Memories of Habib Sa'ab, The Hindu
When I blogged...
- The Cannes Jury Call, July 5, 2005
- Cannes, July 6,2005
- Mercy, July 15, 2005
- No time
for cynicism, July, 2005
- Update on
Mercy's work, July 20, 2005
- Turtles
can fly, July, 2005
- Letter from a Friend, July 26, 2005
- It's okay
if you don't take me seriously!, August, 2005
- I was
devastated, and I still am, August, 2005
- People
separated by an imaginary line and barbed wires, August, 2005
- Midnight
at Wagah, August, 2005
- I have
come back with a heavy heart, August, 2005
- Felt
compelled to respond, August, 2005
- Don't we
often hear what we "want" to hear, August, 2005
-
'Everything's back to normal.' Or is it?, August, 2005
- The Long
Night, September, 2005
- How I yearn
to be there..., September, 2005
- Here's to
the crazy ones!, September, 2005
- "Regional"
Ramblings..., October, 2005
- A Citizen of the World, Oct 25, 2005
- There
really is no difference, November, 2005
-
Rediscovering the Mahatma, November, 2005
|