The Literary City

The Importance Of Being Seated Opposite Oscar Wilde And The Love Story In Wordle

January 19, 2022 Explocity Podcasts Season 1 Episode 4
The Literary City
The Importance Of Being Seated Opposite Oscar Wilde And The Love Story In Wordle
Show Notes Chapter Markers

If there is, at all, succession in life cycles, Prasad was a child of the Roaring Twenties. And not— as many might fall to wrongly assume—a lapsed constituent of the flower power years of the 60s, nor of the decade of anti-establishment protest that was the 70s.

Free of dogma, and always curious about where style is headed next, Prasad Bidapa is  Downton Abbey meets The Devil Wears Prada.

Most people of talent communicate naturally. They use words, sometimes pictures and sometimes fashion; sometimes all of the above. Prasad is a writer, an incessant reader and a sponge to contemporary style.

In this episode, Ramjee Chandran talks to Prasad about his affinity for Oscar Wilde, the eclecticism in his reading and his curiosity for the movement in popular culture.

Prasad talks about education and the experiences he shares with wife Judy in parenting their children, Aviva Bidapa (see Instagram), a designer rising in popularity, and son Adam, who runs a homestay in the pretty hamlet of Pollibetta in Coorg. (Great for a weekend getaway, Adam Bidapa's homestay is Coorg Kolamotte Homestay, and can be found here: https://explo.in/3FATCqO.)

As someone who is non-judgmental, Prasad is not beyond letting a biting witticism escape him. Listen to Prasad reading Meryl Streep's monologue from The Devil Wears Prada with the conviction that only an insider can rock.

Prasad opens the session with a reading of an excerpt from "The Philosophy Of Dress" by Oscar Wilde. Here's the excerpt:
"Fashion rests upon folly. Art rests upon law. Fashion is ephemeral. Art is eternal. Indeed what is a fashion really? A fashion is merely a form of ugliness so absolutely unbearable that we have to alter it every six months! It is quite clear that were it beautiful and rational we would not alter anything that combined those two rare qualities. And wherever dress has been so, it has remained unchanged in law and principle for many hundred years."

NEW RELEASES
WORDLE has swept into the hearts of lovers of things that people do with words, beyond reading and writing them. Was Wordle a gift of love? A romantic story? With spinach? Find out!
(Play: https://explo.in/3tCRYm5)

WHAT'S THAT WORD?! - "THE WHOLE NINE YARDS"
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in the segment titled "What's That Word?", or titled in whichever way Ramjee fumbles the title. They dive into the usage and etymology of the oft-used phrase, "the whole nine yards".

If you have a word, expression or phrase you would like to know more about, we would love to have you join us live on the show. You can reach out to us by mail: theliterarycity@explocity.com or simply, tlc@explocity.com.
Or, you can visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bangaloreliterarysociety.
Or you can go to our Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/explocityblr/.
If your word or phrase is selected, we will call you.

Join our Facebook group, Bangalore Literary Society. It does not matter if you are not in Bangalore. This group is for anyone interested in language and words.

HELP EDUCATE A NEEDY CHILD
The Literary City encourages you to give to those children who struggle to get an education. A shoutout to all institutions who help needy children get this education. We ask you to contribute whatever you can to The Association of People with Disability. The link to donate is: https://www.apd-india.org/donations. Visit their site and take a look at the wonderful work they do and find it in your heart to, well, teach

What's That Word - WHOLE NINE YARDS