February | 2016 | rama toshi arya's blog

It is Valentine’s Day and everyone and everything seems to be abuzz with how to celebrate a day devoted to love and affection with Mr. X or Mr. Z. My facebook wall suggests I spend it getting to know my adopted city a little better. After all, I love it, don’t I? The offered walk is through Lal Baug on Sunday morning, 14 February, 8:30 am.

I know nothing about the precinct mentioned in the marketing pitch. The name Lal Baug translates to red garden. Red for love. 🙂 Curious, I click on ‘going’.

Lal Baug, I soon discover is not one story but a tapestry of many, weaving into each other, much like a person if I may say so. It is more than a geographical area. It is a context, a community. Bombay or Mumbai or vice versa would be incomplete without Lal Baug. Let me explain. Continue reading →

The written word can be a tantalizing, sacred concoction—a well-crafted, authentic collection of characters that throws insights into our world and sounds like music to our hearts. If one but knows, how to.

I chanced upon Savita Nair’s writings whilst surfing. It was just another day. I read one poem, and then another from her book 45ml. And I was hooked. I felt she was writing about me, unbarred, and bare. Somewhere along the way, we became fb friends. When I heard her second book Tell Me Your Real Story was just off the press I ran for the launch as expected. I was curious to know what made her tick. What made her read into everyone’s dark ugly closets and know exactly what we were all about. Was she some kind of psychic able to see through us plebs, stripping us of our masks!?

It was a lovely event. Some poetry reading, wine, a couple of celebrities to do the honours, and a vibrant Q&A. But no one asked her what was her real story. Why is the obvious so elusive at times.

So tell me, Savita Nair, what is your real story. The answers met me over a coffee one evening, earlier this week in Mahim. Continue reading →