Mourning

Anandhi calls me at 6 a.m. She is travelling and I should verify that Michael Jackson is really dead.
Since all the news channels are full of it, its not very difficult.

I guess he was more of an icon for people of our generation . But still so famous, that even villages seem to know him. And even more so for males. Goutham, Thambi were the dancers of our family doing 'breakdance' and 'Im bad' whenever they thought that no one was looking. The whole thing might look a little contortionsist but the involvement of the dancers is so total; it looks good.
chelva and Chelvi - I dont know..guess they had different icons.

Michael Jackson is described as a tortured soul. And it must have been true . inspite of all the fame, name, billions, creativity which all of us would like to have; his inner feelings and drives – against the norms of society must have killed him.

A nat geo program was talking about transgender people- people who are neither man nor woman. One of them undergoing a sex change operation says… 'one can never never choose to be so. In my next birth, I pray that I am one of either gender- man or woman.'

One of the few places in the world where a third gender is accepted is India. the enveloping nature of Hinduism accepts all sorts of deviations. We’ve even given them a place in society as performers at weddings and births. The hijras. We think they have supernatural powers which they use to exploit us into giving them alms.
But what other alternative do they have except to beg and demand. We wont’ give them our house on rent or a job.

But still, we can be proud that our little tolerance at least has given them a role in society where they are themselves without having to pretend as in other countries.