Atmananda Menon Quotes

Love at first sight is a hypnosis: I am fascinated by an image: at first shaken, electrified, stunned, "paralysed" as Menon was by Socrates, the model of loved objects, of captivating images, or again converted by an apparition, nothing distinguishing the path of enamoration from the Road to Damascus; subsequently ensnared, held fast, immobilised, nose stuck to the image (the mirror). In that moment when the other's image comes to ravish me for the first time, I am nothing more than the Jesuit Athanasius Kirchner's wonderful Hen: feet tied, the hen went to sleep with her eyes fixed on the chalk line, which was traced not far from her beak; when she was untied, she remained motionless, fascinated, "submitting to her vanquisher," as the Jesuit says (1646); yet, to waken her from her enchantment, to break off the violence of her Image-repertoire (vehemens animalis imaginatio), it was enough to tap her on the wing; she shook herself and began pecking in the dust again. ~ Roland Barthes

The mechanics of Nature ensures that the shadow of yesterday doesn't eclipse the dawn of tomorrow. ~ Shilpa Menon

The whole point about 'romance' is that the woman is somehow always smaller, more diminutive in a cute sort of way, while the man is adult. ~ Nivedita Menon

Geeks are smart and talented and passionate. I don't think that's a bad thing. ~ Sandhya Menon

maybe i have given up fighting for "mine"
and have settled for "not yours ~ Alok Vaid-Menon

Amma … I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but I'm a feminist too." Amma stared at her, her eyes wide in horror. She didn't notice when the red floral dupatta of her salwar kameez slipped off one shoulder. "Sweetie! Feminists don't get married. Stop that nonsense." Sweetie did laugh then, openly. "Amma, what the heck are you talking about? Feminists can do whatever they want. They just want equal rights for women. ~ Sandhya Menon

Dimple opened her mouth to say that, yeah, in her opinion misogyny was complicated. Mainly because of the way it was integrated into the very fabric of society, which made it hard to see when a guy was being a total d-bag to you. ~ Sandhya Menon

Why Menon got where he did under the patronage of Pandit Nehru remains, and probably will remain, unexplained. Panditji had him elected to Parliament and sent to the United Nations to lead the Indian delegation. His marathon thirteen-hour speech on Kashmir won India a unanimous vote against it. He was then made Defence Minister against the wishes of almost all the members of the Cabinet. He wrecked army discipline by promoting favourites over the heads of senior officers. He was vindictive against those who stood up to him. More than anyone else he was responsible for the humiliating defeat of our army at the hands of the Chinese in 1962. Pandit Nehru stuck by him to the last. ~ Khushwant Singh

No. It's not. When I walk down the road, people immediately make judgments about me based on my body size. That doesn't happen to you guys, no matter how self-conscious you might be about your bodies. You're still thin, and you get to exist in spaces without constantly being found wanting. ~ Sandhya Menon

Lila smiles, reaches into the cloth covering whatever goodies are in the basket, and pulls out a concha. The top of the pastry is a swirl of colors- deep purple, inky blue, pink, green, gold. It reminds me of the galaxy, and I stare for a moment, mesmerized, before I take it from her.
My mouth begins to water. "This smells incredible," I say. "What do I owe you?"
"It's on the house," she says, already turning away. "Enjoy."
I want to argue, but the urge to bite into the pastry is nearly irresistible now. I've never had Mexican pastries before. But first... I pick up my phone from the bench and take a picture of the gorgeous creation. Then, putting it back down, I take a big bite and close my eyes. My mouth explodes with flavors and sensations- sweet, yeasty, warm. In another three bites, I've eaten the entire four-inch ball of dough and am licking my fingers. ~ Sandhya Menon

Misunderstanding is one of the worst of ill feelings which can spoil many lives. ~ Lakshmi Menon

He should just say it. 'That's because we . . . we're supposed to be getting married. ~ Sandhya Menon

You're going to see a lot of it. People getting ahead unfairly because of the category into which they were born: male or white or straight or rich. I'm in a few of those categories myself, which is why I make it a point to reach out and help those who aren't, those who might not necessarily be seen if I didn't make the effort. We need to shake this field up, you know? We need more people with different points of view and experiences and thought processes so we can keep innovating and moving ahead. ~ Sandhya Menon

Her body conveyed anger like a second language; she must have had a lot of practice ~ Sandhya Menon

What separates the best from the rest is just the attitude. ~ Shilpa Menon

we have been taught to fear the very things that have the potential to set us free ~ Alok Vaid-Menon

The funny thing about a smile is that once you wear a smile, the darkness lightens and one does not feel frightened or sad any more. ~ Deepak Menon

Healing begins with owing your scars & disowning that which caused them ~ Shilpa Menon

When you start loving yourself, others around you will also start loving you. ~ Lakshmy Menon Chatterjee

Seriously? That's what you think I should be relegating my brain space to? Looking nice? Like, if I don't make the effort to look beautiful, my entire existence is nullified? Nothing else matters-not my intellect, not my personality or my accomplishments; my hopes and dreams mean nothing if I'm not wearing eyeliner? ~ Sandhya Menon

leadership is about courage and the ability to overcome unsurmountable challenges, ~ Sudha Menon

Dimple could see, flush from the endorphins of a great performance, why actors and performers got addicted to this kind of thing. It had always seemed unfathomable to her, choosing a career where all you did was put yourself out in front of hundreds or thousands of people and risked rejection in real time. But if they felt even half of what she was feeling now when it went well... ~ Sandhya Menon

When the finally pulled apart, Rishi's mouth tingling still, Dimple smiled shyly and looked down at their hands, entwined between them on the bench. "So," she said softly. "That was unexpected."

He leaned over and kissed her forehead, like it was the most natural thing to do. Was this going to be their thing now, casual kissing? He hoped so. "Unexpected but awesome." Rishi paused. "Right?"

She laughed and looked up at him. "Definitely."

He grinned, his heart soaked in happy. ~ Sandhya Menon

Achchan would make these random comments, just interject them into the silence. Like, "Oh! Bob's Air-Conditioning!" because he'd literally seen a billboard and wanted to talk about it since that was better than what was going on in the car. Sweetie would've laughed if she hadn't been so pissed off. ~ Sandhya Menon

But with Sweetie time passed in gentle waves. A conversation with her was like a warm hug and a cup of hot coca on a cold day – comforting, familiar, a place you never wanted to leave ~ Sandhya Menon

The thought of hope is the seed to healing. ~ Shilpa Menon

In a while, her eyes felt leaden and she felt sleep overpower her, even as she fought to keep her eyes open. In vain, I tried to churn within her, a little nugget of fear, trying desperately to warn her of impending danger. ~ Deepti Menon

Against all odds, beyond every logic, there is hope. ~ Shilpa Menon

We are eternal beings, existing in time. ~ Shilpa Menon

[E]ven today, when confident and self-affirmative lesbian identities have emerged and are available to women, images of `lesbianism' are still regularly appropriated by a male heterosexual pornographic imagination which cannot accept that this is one party to which men are not invited and at which their presence is not necessary. ~ Nivedita Menon

When I was in India I met and conversed briefly with Shri Atmananda Guru of Trivandrum, and the question he gave me to ponder was this: 'Where are you between two thoughts? ~ Joseph Campbell

Sahil: Sometimes I worry I don't know who I really am. Sometimes I'm afraid nothing I do will ever be enough to set me apart. ~ Sandhya Menon

One's longing is not so much there for sense-gratification, profit and self-preservation, instead one's karma is there for no other purpose than inquiring after the Absolute Truth. ~ Ramesh Menon

The quality of your awareness determines the quality of life you experience. ~ Shilpa Menon

Don't seek, let go & what you are searching for will find you. ~ Shilpa Menon

where do all of the sad girls go?

in this world that requires us
to write poems about the people who have their hands
wrapped around our necks for the very people who have
their hands wrapped around our necks to recognize
that they indeed have their hands wrapped around our
necks? ~ Alok Vaid-Menon

I feel like I need to speak out, because if no one speaks out, if no one says, this is me, this is what I believe in, and this is why I'm different, and this is why that's okay, then what's the point? What's the point of living in this beautiful, great melting pot where everyone can dare be anything they want to be? ~ Sandhya Menon

The first time Akash took Supriya to view the pool, I rose up in strident protest, and he was astonished by the way she turned her face away, her eyes filled with terror. "I am petrified of water!" she whispered, as he tried to cajole her to at least put her feet in. ~ Deepti Menon

Women find themselves arguing futilely that 'just because' I go out to work/smoke/drink/wear unorthodox clothes/enjoy male company - that doesn't make me a whore. Is there any comparable good/bad imagery for men? Of course not. The feminist response to being called whores or chhinaal should not be to protest fruitlessly, 'We are not whores!' but to turn the insult around and ask, 'What makes you think this is an insult? We refuse the terms of this insult.' What if all women were to say we are 'loose' - we are not tightly controlled - and if that makes us whores, then we are all whores. If we are all bad women, then patriarchy had better watch out. Or, as Archana Verma puts it: 'One day, I will hear hurled at me the words, loose woman, chhinaal, prostitute … And I will turn around and say, "Thank you for the compliment". That day will come. And it will be a day of feminist celebration. ~ Nivedita Menon

We humans think we exist like this." Dadi gestured to the powders in their individual bowls. "Apart. Single. Beautiful and vivid, but alone." … She upended the two bowls into the center of the larger container, and the powders came together. They were mixed somewhat, but still in their separate piles for the most part - "Then" Dad continued, " with each interaction with another soul, we begin to change." She put a finger into the pile of powders and began to stir gently. The powders mixed more the longer she stirred, red mingling with orange, losing its distinct form. "We take pieces of them, and they take pieces of us. It's not bad. It's not good. It just is." By now the powders were completely mixed together, indistinguishable from each other. "Our best friends, the ones we love the most, are the ones who can hurt us the most. Because look." She pointed down to the powders. "We have had so many interactions, that we cannot separate their pieces from ours. And if we try, we would only be getting rid of ourselves. ~ Sandhya Menon