Thudukku
My thatha, in his late 20s saw a photograph of Thirumangai Azhwar once, in someone’s house, and could not get past it. So he went to Thirunagari — Thiruvali-Thirunagari, the Azhwar’s own town.
ST
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Seven years
In 2009, my father was diagnosed with kidney disease. He had to stop working. For the next ten years, we lived off his savings and some smart financial manoeuvring. I don’t think I fully understood the weight of that until I started earning.
TN Elections - My read
Edappadi Palaniswami does not look like a master politician. He speaks in a flat, unhurried cadence, gives no memorable speeches, inspires no great passion. For years, people have underestimated him for exactly these reasons — and they have been wrong. He survived Sasikala. He survived OPS. He held 66 seats in 2021. And then, after the 2024 wipeout, when commentators were writing AIADMK’s…
क्षमस्व / kṣamasva / க்ஷமஸ்வ
Every morning and evening, I recite these two verses from Ramanujar’s Sharanagathi Gadyam asking for forgiveness.
Tribute to Appa
My father passed away on December 7, 2025 at Kauvery Hospital, Electronic City, Bangalore. He was 66. He was in the hospital for about 10 days, in and out of ICU. Dad was admitted for bradycardia (low HR) and was on a temporary pacemaker when he passed. He left conscious and fulfilled. Two days before, with remarkable clarity, he blessed everyone, said “I don’t have enough time, take care of…
A Tribute to Paati | Enakkoru nalvazhi
My paati (grandmother), Mrs. Alamelu Thirumalai, pictured above, was born this day, October 2 in 1931. She was a pious woman well versed in Tamil. She composed her own songs, and this particular composition has stayed with me since my childhood. I wanted to preserve it here — right now it exists only in the memories of my mother and other relatives. I have added my notes below the lyrics. What…
Tu Mājhi Māuli
I have been getting into Abhangs about Vittala of Pandharpur. This one by Sant Tukaram beautifully captures the maternal aspect of divine love through nature’s metaphors. It mirrors the sentiment found in Kulasekara Azhwar’s “Tharu thuyaram thadayel” from Perumal Thirumozhi, where the devotee approaches the Divine with vulnerability and total dependence
Soozhvinai Aazhthuyar
Periya Thiruvandhadhi (பெரிய திருவந்தாதி) - Pasuram 86
The Blue Pot Problem
What do you see here: a blue pot or a bluepot?
When Advaita’s Students Walked Away
The dramatic story of how Ramanujacharya and Madhwacharya broke from Advaita and created their own philosophical highways