Aswini Ashok

 One of the best books I have read is “My Father Baliah.” Baliah’s son narrates how his father raised his family through education. It is a simple book on the legacy of a father and the ordinary things our parents do that shape our lives and the people we become. I remember reading the last chapter of the book on my Kindle while on a train. The book ends with Baliah being taken to the grave, and I cried thinking about my mom. I thought to myself that someday I should write a book titled “My Mother Tamilselvi.” The thoughts reappeared when I was cooking kesari on my mom’s birthday. That is the only dish she would consistently prepare for all our birthdays. We used to tease her that she couldn't cook anything else, and she never bothered to prove us wrong. Though I may not be close to writing a book, I thought of writing down the thoughts running through my mind while stirring the kesari. People usually credit mothers for delicious meals, but to be honest, I do not remember any of he...

When we were kids, our parents made sure to take us to the book fair & exhibition every year during the Pongal season. I remember the fair moving location year to year from St. George school (The famous kana kanum kalangal school) to YMCA and my mother would say that it used to be held in Quaide milleth when she was in college. Slowly over the years my dad would stop at the entrance and listen to the evening speeches and debates at the venue and let my mother take us inside the fair. Then he stopped coming altogether. I remember going with my mother when I was in my early 20s. Now that all my sisters live separately, it would be a miracle if we go together to the book fair, provided the little time we spend together. But the urge to visit the fair still lies with us, thanks to the efforts our parents put into our childhood. The last I went to the book fair was in 2020, after that due to covid and other reasons, I have just given up that idea. This year when the season started, I wa...

Recently Serena Williams announced that her countdown to retirement has started and had she been a man, she would not have to think about it now. Honestly, even I felt this to be an exaggerated tantrum since she is the most decorated athlete with more grand slams than her male counterparts. I went on to read what made her say this. Seems like she had been planning her second baby for a while now unsuccessfully and she had to give up Tennis to plan her family. So obviously had she been a man, her wife must be taking care of expanding the family while she goes on to win tournaments. Suddenly the ground below me seems shaky. As much as any woman would want to pursue her dreams after marriage and childbirth, the uncertainties around us are beyond our comprehension. Made me think of the time an interviewer blatantly abused me assuming that I would not be a good fit, since I am a woman who may require baby breaks at some point that he cannot afford. It took me a lot of effort to grind my tee...

Like every other day in India, a gang-rape was reported, this time in Mysore, and, the events that follow are painfully similar to every other rape case that remain in my memory. A Mysuru university student was gang-raped last week. Neither she nor her family had made a statement to the police yet, understandably because of the shock and trauma they are being through. But every Tom, Dick, and Harry are out with their 2 cents. The minister said the girl should not have gone to that place at all in the first place. He withdrew his statements later, which doesn’t change a thing. Next, the police, who are incapable of making any arrests yet (until I started writing this), have asusual started their moral policing. They have asked the university to curb the movement of women students after 6.30 p.m. This makes me wonder whether the men and women in this country are ruled by the same laws or is there a separate sub-minimal constitution in India that applies only to women. Last I checked, the...

As the elections draw closer, we get multiple calls from political enthusiasts to check the background of each candidate contesting in our constituency and cast our vote for the deserving candidate rather than our favourite party. There are multiple apps available to ‘know our candidate’ at the snap of a button, which compile the data available in the affidavits submitted by the candidates to the election commission. While this is extremely useful to evaluate the candidates, one step forward would be to evaluate our sitting MLAs for their actual performance. Here, such an attempt has been made to evaluate the performance of my MLA of the infamous Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency, Mr. TTV. Dinakaran. We may all remember RK nagar and TTV. Dinakaran for one of the most interesting political episodes that followed after the demise of the CM Jayalalitha. First, he contested under AIADMK banner in the by-election that was called off by ECI for cash-for-vote scam and the next election w...

If you are someone who prefers to be away from the city for a while, but also wants to explore how the ancient cities used to be, you might find the ancient temples of medieval times interesting. Here is one such place where ancient architecture meets scientific mysteries. Lepakshi is a village in Andhra Pradesh, secluded from the hustle and bustle of the cities, but, well connected with them. First things first. What is Lepakshi: Legend has it that, this is the place where Jatayu fell after a failed mission to rescue Sita from Ravana’s clutches. Rama saw the mighty eagle lying on the ground miserably and said “Le Pakshi” which translates in English as “Rise, bird”. The main attractions in Lepakshi are the Veerabadraswamy temple and the world’s biggest monolithic Nandi which were all built during Vijayanagara empire times between 13 & 15 th century A.D. What to see in Lepakshi:     1. Veerabadraswamy Temple.      a. Kalyana Mandap A ma...