Harini Srinivasan

When India went into lockdown last year, Harper Collins came up with this idea of a crowdsourced novel. @cdivakaruni was asked to write the first chapter. I have written Chapter 9 in The Last Ones :) It is now out on Kindle. Do read! #StoriesConnectUS

@SridharanAnand Exactly. There is no kalai whatsoever

There's a Tamil word called Kalai to describe a certain kind of look. Superficially, it's about beauty, but it's essence is a lot more, referring to a radiance that comes through from within. Any respectable painting depicts Gods with Kalai. Ramayana movie cast has zero Kalai.

Meet Meenakshi Jain A woman who has single-handedly waged an unyielding crusade against the Leftist–Communist intellectual syndicate for decades. Her command of history and her ferocity of argument are so overwhelming that a single podcast from her can intellectually pulverise an entire battalion of Romila Thapars. Repost if you agree with me

We need a Skandagupta movie. The Guptas have NEVER been touched by film makers, not even documentary ones.

Varanasi was earlier an abode of Vishnu's form Bindu Madhav. The temple of BinduMadhav was touted to be as magnificent as the Jagannath Puri in a structure resembling a Swastika. So much so that in the 1660s, Aurangzeb earlier ordered the demolition of Bindu Madhav and constructed Alamgir Masjid on its ruins at modern day Panchganga Ghat, Ghasi Tola and then the काशी विश्वेश्वर at Gyanvapi (built by Todarmal in 1585) (Today a makeshift Bindu Madhav temple stands beside it run by the Patwardhan marathi brahmins). काशी विश्वनाथ की महिमा, a popular rendition about the history of this city cites स्कंद पुराण and काशी खंड - "कभी बिंदू माधव रहे, इस नागरी के भूत, फिर शिवाजी को सौप दी कशी भेट स्वरूप".

PSA: You can read this book in a few hours and, once you’ve finished, you’ll know more about medieval castles than most people currently living. Nonfiction is seldom this fun; a pure joy to read & ponder.

Pak Army entered India Beheaded an Indian solider Took his severed head to Pakistan Family had to sit on hunger strike to get some action from the UPA government Always wonder why people over 35 are such hardcore Modi supporters

@nowme_datta So true! The books are so much better.

That Eloise will continue to be on the shelf with this force fit love story. Anyway, the series is so blah and this is not going to give us Heated Rivalry kind of dynamic either.

NSA Ajit Doval speaking about the silent sacrifices of countless unknown gunmen who laid down their lives for the nation.🇮🇳

Bookshopping in Banaras again

The unknown men in Pakistan exist. You may believe it or not. A few know about them. A handful manage them. And those who have met them that side of border, didn’t live to tell the story. The country has no idea how much effort and risk goes into keeping all of us safe. That’s why #Dhurandhar is important.

I never play music while I’m writing. That’s not because it distracts me. On the contrary, I’m so deep into the imaginary world that I just don’t hear the music. How about you? Do you listen to music while you work?

Javagal Srinath, for single handedly carrying India’s pace attack, for a decade.

5-6... and many more in the ideas folder!

Rediscovering one's Kula Devata - this lady discovers her kuladevi Dharmasamvardhini (same name as the Amman in Thiruvaiyaru) who has been forgotten over multiple generations. A very touching video that landed on my YouTube TL. youtu.be/KPa626SBTxY?si…

You don’t have to write a perfect chapter today. You don’t have to solve every plot hole. You don’t have to feel inspired. Just show up to the page. One paragraph. One sentence. One idea.

The older you get, the more you realize luck is just exposure. If you sit in the same chair, same routine, talking to same people… nothing new happens. You have to touch the world to win. • Talk to strangers • try a new coffee spot • post on social • Start a side hustle The world rewards motion. You don’t find opportunity sitting still. You bump into it.

I hate the way writers have to be influencers now. It’s the single worst thing that has happened to books. Good writers have to waste valuable time making content when they should be writing, bad writers get book deals because they have a lot of followers

The Problem with Fiction Books "It's unfortunate that in the English language we use the word fiction as if it were the opposite of fact. I think fiction is very interested in truth and it does bring us closer to truth, but it does it in its own way. There's a transcendental aspect to it. Sometimes you tell your story, but sometimes it's not about your story. It's about the other. You become the other, and then you become another, another. And you keep making these journeys. You try to dismantle the dualities, not in a preachy way, but in a very gentle, quiet way. And then you realize the person I regarded as my other is actually my brother. You know, my sister is me. I am the other. You know, there's not much difference. So it dissolves those dualities. That aspect of literature is so crucial to me." — Elif Shafak

@IndicHistory All the best :-)

Trying my hand at historical fiction for the first time. Let's see how this goes.