Sharath Komarraju's Blog, page 69
July 23, 2014
Epicurus on Fear
In my previous post on Epicurus we touched on his idea of happiness. We briefly discussed ataraxia, the state of being tranquil and free of worry. In today’s post, we’ll see what Epicurus thought was our biggest source of worry, and how best to achieve conscious control over it. Most of human anxiety, said Epicurus, is […]
Photo Post: Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright
For many years, I have thronged the reserve forests of North India, with the hope of spotting the elusive Royal Bengal Tiger in the wild. Umpteen visits to Rajaji National Park and Corbett Tiger Reserve proved futile. I saw wild boars, all kinds of deer, monkeys and so many varieties of birds that I almost […]
July 22, 2014
Why Bride Price is not quite the same as Bride Purchase
Recently I came across the concept of bride price (sociologists like to call it bride wealth), in which the groom pays a certain amount of wealth to the bride’s parents at the time of marriage. This is in contrast to dowry, where wealth is given to the daughter by her parents for ‘setting up the house’. […]
6 Word Mistakes You Could be Forgiven for Making
The recent Write Club Meetup on strange words – and a few recent embarrassing goof-ups – got me thinking about how often we get some basic things wrong in English usage. Some of the examples below will show that writers are not immune to these pitfalls at all. If anything, we’re falling into them more […]
Photo-post: Gold ‘n I
My zoomed lens shoots. An instant, it lasts. His trumpet forever toots. Guest Post by Nitish Nair. Scientist. Writer. Poet. Photographer. Read his previous post: Will you Follow Me?Filed under: Guest Posts, Ideas Log
July 21, 2014
3 Questions You Must Address Before Your First Money Talk
We have to face one fact in our modern lives. Money is important. It’s not the most important thing in the world. No, not even close. But it is perhaps the most important material thing in the world. In my previous post I asked the question of whether money or sex is the more serious taboo […]
Meetup 141: Narrative Pace
Last weekend, Pavan conducted a session on narrative pace. It was our first ‘technical’ session after a long time, so I enjoyed it thoroughly. In summary, we looked at ways to deliberately control the pace of our writing. Sentence structure, word lengths, and effective paragraphing were discussed as possible methods by which an author can bring […]
July 20, 2014
Bandhani – The Ties That Bind Us: A Word and Picture Story
Early this year, Piah Diance Studio produced a folk-dance drama called Bandhani – The Ties That Bind Us. They employed me to write the script and treatment. Recently I was talking to Priya Kumar Varunesh, the director of the company, and we thought it would be nice if we can bring the story of Bandhani in […]
July 19, 2014
Bangalore Snapshots: Under the Mango Tree
How many times have you had your heart breaking as you left your little one alone, crying and scratching furiously at the door? How many times have you felt really guilty watching the piece of your heart gratefully gobble down every last crumb from the doggie bag you brought home from the restaurant? How many […]
Photo-post: The Birds of Saharanpur
I have been living in this chaotic urban sprawl for well over two decades. I took to birding a few years back. Whenever, the people around hear me talking of birds, the general reaction is, “Birds! We have been living in this town for such a long time and there are no birds here.” Some […]
