Life-en-treats

By:  Sushumna Kannan   Date:   2009-05-12   Place: Bangalore     Sushumna Kannan offers a ringside view of time spent fobbing off inquisitive relatives and wise-cracking friends while burning the midnight oil in pursuit of a dream Recently, a leading newspaper ran a series on the golmaal that takes place in the acquiring and granting of a PhD. But that's not everybody's story.   A PhD, if done sincerely, needs many years of single-minded devotion. No Sunday, and nothing like a weekend. It takes 3-4 years of toil during which you would be constantly asked about your thesis, its relevance and originality. Reading, grasping, writing and other skills are mandatory skills, apart from discipline, patience, perseverance and a genuine thirst for knowledge.   The only danger, of course, is that you may not have been born a nerd, but you could end up one. I am not kidding. Just the other day I was telling a friend that I had slowly forgotten to make conversation because I am on a quest o...

Gubbihallada Sakshiyalli By L. C. Sumithra Ankita Pustaka, Rs. 70 L.C. Sumithra’s “Gubbihallada Sakshiyalli” is a collection of short stories written over several years. It brings Sumithra’s creativity to the fore, while we have known her more for her critical essays and her award-winning Ka nnada translation of Amrita Pritam’s “Pinjar”, till now. The eleven stories in this collection are mostly set in Malnad and are inseparable from its geographical and cultural uniqueness. Sumithra’s commitment towards capturing cultural experiences is indeed unique and rare-to-find in an increasingly idea-centric age and time. Her craft consists in the flexibility, she achieves, in language, in order to present experiences. The earthy characters we meet in this collection are all set in changing times and places and, struggle their way through the new parameters that are being set for relationships. Malnad’s changing culture is captured here in a matter-of-fact way, sans anxiety or contempt. Sumithr...

why is it that I am hell-bent on hurting you?  that mention of an old-flame, half-said and all, and so much undone... could it be that "that I don't want to be like my mom" thing? will I lose my life in the midst of us both? could it be some envy that, finally, you get to have me  while i know i deserve an endless ocean of love, while I feel no one actually deserves me!  I don't know of someone who didn't love or adore me I don't know of rejection, except from the envious  I didn't say "leave" to anybody, never walked away I brought back those that left, and forgave those that didn't return what I ask for, even as I submit to you,  is the love that I once knew...I might have lost it time and again But that unearthly love,  that blissful thing, that was truly unconditional it was given to me by the gods themselves But how or why do I expect you to give t...