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“ One deeply moving moment comes when Pi, a Hindu who has studied the Muslim and Christian faiths, catches a fish, kills it, weeps for having killed it and says, through his tears, "Thank you, Lord Vishnu, thank you for coming in the form of a fish and saving our lives ." – Life of Pi movie review My friend Anu sent me this quote and the link to the Wall Street Journal review, soon after I told her or poured over my anguish about a profound moment in the movie when the theatre erupted in laughter as if it was some Vadivelu comedy. I am not belittling Vadivelu comedy, a fan of several of his scenes and there are profound moments even there. Anu had not seen the movie then and I didn’t describe the scene to her. When I read the review I was shocked at the way the reviewer from a foreign land reacted to it, and how we who I would presume more deeply rooted in spirituality reacted to the same scene. I kept thinking for several days, a...

Recently there was a big furor over a mundane menu card on Twitter. Rocky & Mayur the foodies handle tweeted a photo of what looked like a Masal Vada calling it a Medu Vada. Those who knew the difference called it out. But the television hosts were a bit belligerent to either enquire into the truth or take it as correct if they believed the so called Tamilians who suspected were behind the onslaught to know the truth. But, it dragged on for days, and the first aggressive assault came from the foodies handle, asking if Tamil culture is all lost if a Masal Vadu is to be called Medu Vada. What is there in the name as long as one got the taste right? Well, that is not the issue. The issue is if food is part of one’s culture or  not? Madarasi might call it Masal Vadai, Malayali might call them paruppu vadas, they may be different things to different people. Yet, to each of them it might part of their cultural identity. Similar fight erupted last week over a magazine cove...