Mechilpuram

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...