Mechilpuram

The author is just out of view, waiting for his iced tea:) Musings I’m writing this piece at a Third Wave outlet, sipping on an iced tea. Fresh after receiving my paycheck and completing my quarterly targets, it felt right to treat myself to some caffeine, so that my Friday could last a bit longer. Finance Team were gracious to release the paycheck earlier than usual, so more reasons for cheer :) Cafés provide me with new dimensions of observation whenever I visit. As a person who visits cafés alone, it sometimes feels intrusive to check the crowd out while sipping on a beverage. Here are some of my thoughts: Overpouring Emotions I have been in situations where patrons shared happiness in passing, silent tears, shared camaraderie, etc. I’m sitting at this table, where a lady seated across me is shedding tears, a laptop in front of her, while on a call. For me, it has always been a bit uncomfortable to hear someone shedding a tear. It never felt personal. It felt like I was intruding in...

Musings Shyamaprasad has been able to convey the everyday happenings in the life of a guide beautifully through this segment. The ease of handling languages, standing agreements with dealers, the street-smart mentality, tricks up their sleeve to secure a buck and their observant ( critical but humorous ) commentary on tourists that visit the beach during the holidays. With the added twang of the Trivandrum slang. After the emotional weight of the previous stories, the cafe takes a small step back and breathes. This one's a bit more light-hearted, so let's relax.  No overt analysis, no pondering for deeper meanings. Let's breathe easy with this one, with a smile :) Reel 7 : Off-Season On the sun-kissed beach of Kovalam, a Portuguese couple arrives with little money and even fewer plans. A local tourist guide, always on the lookout for a quick opportunity, finds himself dealing with them. Simply part hustle, part survival. What begins as a chance encounter slowly turns into s...

Musings I'm writing this piece at a time that may well go down in history, and one that feels strangely apt. It has been over two weeks since the three-way geopolitical tensions between Israel, Iran and the United States began, and slowly the ripples of that conflict have begun touching our motherland. Today, there is a widespread shortage of LPG cylinders in India, amongst whispers that they are being scalped for exorbitant prices in the black market. Restaurants, cloud kitchens, and our beloved kutty bakeries currently face a crisis of income slowdown, all because they sit far below the power chain. The Indian stock market has been tumbling since the beginning of this week, wiping away whatever returns (though minimal) the past year had managed to offer. It doesn't help ease the uncertainty when one realises that COVID-19 struck the world exactly six years ago. All those tales of wars that were waged, famines endured by the powerless, and powers that came tumbling down once...