Adarsh Madhavan
Culling strays: are we barking up the wrong tree?
By Adarsh Madhavan Kerala is in the grip of a stray ‘dog’ fever. After the COVID-19 pandemic fear, this stray dog fever has taken the state by storm – this seems to be the topic on every lips; this is the biggest ‘happening’ thing in ‘God’s Own Country’. And everyone...
Hope is a woman who has lost her fear
By Adarsh Madhavan “I am ‘Ummiyyah’(illiterate)”, self declares Dirbibi Al Balushi, 71, when Purple went to meet her in Muttrah Souq recently. Dirbibi is living in acute penury and is trying her best to make both ends meet, but she is heavily weighed down by...
Spit, relieve yourself, defecate, but no feeding dogs please, we’re human
BY Adarsh MadhavanThe rotund man gaily walked out of a popular restaurant, ignoring the outstretched hands of a frail old lady plonked right in front of its entrance, but he didn’t fail to air-kick a harmless, scrawny community dog that was innocently sniffing at...
Feathers…
By Adarsh MadhavanSuddenly, out of thin air, a feather floated softly down in front of me. Ethereal. It twirled around like a fairy ballerina. When the show ended, the curtains closed, I picked up the feathered ‘ballerina’ and hid her in my shirt pocket. Snug.My heart...
Fly butterfly, fly free
I hesitated to let that woman in. I was at a friend’s flat and since both of our families were away, we were mulling a bachelors’ dinner while watching that evening’s cricket match. The friend cooked better than I did so I let him do what he was good at while I did...
Corona ‘Song of Freedom’
Nostradamus wasn’t far off. Throwing word darts into the future where it struck bullseye in 2020. The wound still drips blood as we are not able to plaster the outpouring.Astrologers spit in the air again and again. Foretelling new dates.This month, this day,...
Not pseudo, this animal lover
By Adarsh Madhavan Some of us are just pseudo animal (read dogs) lovers (read hypocrites). Like me, for instance.I love animals.And I like chicken.Curry. Roast. Fry. Biriyani. Shame on you!Yes, shame on me, but I am with this diet since decades....
When it ‘owls…
By Adarsh Madhavan In the dead of night, I hear the message that a lone owl sends. Not a Whatsapp message that goes ting at the receiver’s end.But a hoot.An ominous cry, as they say.I care a hoot.But, my mother, who is afraid of so many things, also counts the owl as...
Suddenly I am getting noticed…
By Adarsh MadhavanSuddenly, I am getting noticed even in the dark, unlit, streets of Kannur. Normally, I slink past, under the cover of the shadows, like most of the poor street dogs that I try to feed. But lately, my lanky frame is being recognised, worn shoes, faded...
“Just need a small help…”
“Hello, oru cheriyyyoruu sahayam venamayirunnu…” Just need a small help… he said in Malayalam, overstressing on the ‘small’. But, since I had already seen this short, thin man in padded-up shirts hesitatingly approach someone who went before me on the busy street near...
I think a strange spider is stalking me
By Adarsh Madhavan A wiry but large spider (nearly the size of my palm) has been stalking me for days!I can’t bring myself to swat this arachnid, but like the other day when my mom woke up at half past one in the morning and called me to say that she wasn’t going to...
Sometimes you’ve got to go…
Sometimes, I just want to go… Call it extremity. Call it a crime. Call it by any name. But, that darkness exists. It is real. DIE THAN TAKE MY OWN LIFE I had claimed earlier: “I’d rather die than take my own life.” But later lips cracked when I uttered this double...