Home - Vijee Venkatraman

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Vibrant Pigments, Global Exchange

Against a field of deep blue, sword‑bearing demons surge toward a sacred fire. Ram — yellow‑clad, rendered in blue — lets loose a rain of arrows, with Lakshmana steady at his side. Vermilion blood spills from the demons as the ritual tilts toward battle. Demons Approaching Rama and...

I am a graduate of the Science Journalism program at Boston University.This website is a digital portfolio of my articles, essays and short stories translated from Tamil.

Carnatic legend M. S. Subbulakshmi's portrait often appears on this website. It is rendered by my biophysicist cousin in YInMn Blue -- this pigment is a novel material that keeps both its brilliance and its cool under the hot sun -- it is just the nerdy thing we bond over. Do check out her small joyous creations at YarnivoreGoods.

FOOD & TRAVEL

Casteless Collective & Modi Mastan

Stars twinkled overhead; sparks flew from the embers of corn sellers’ coal stoves at Besant Nagar Beach. It was a typical Sunday evening crowd—families, couples and vendors. But at the far end, in the Urur Olcott fishing village, something interesting was underway: the Chennai Kalai...

Measuring Blood with Light

Some components of blood can be measured without a needle stick. Now an innovation in light-based methods could make even more of them visible. For about 40 years, physicians have been able to measure some qualities of blood using pulses of light. A recent breakthrough...

City Lights, Vanishing Stars

One December evening I climbed up to the mottai-madi, the bare terrace atop my parents’ four-floor apartment building in Chennai and waited for darkness to descend. The sun still hung low—an orange-red orb in the distance. Overhead, rose-ringed parakeets zipped towards their nightly roosts, squawking...