The other room

Putli retired to the other room for five days. It was a tiny windowless cubicle with an iron bedstead, an iron chair ans a small steel table. The room opened directly on the staircase landing opposite the kitchen.
Every Parsi household has its other room, specially reserved for women. Thither they are banished for the duration of their unholy state. Even the sun, moon and stars are defiled by her impure gaze, according to a supersition which has its source in man's fear of blood.
Putli quiete enjoyed her infrequent visits to the other room. It was the only chance she ever had to  tes. And since this seclusion was religiously enforced, she was able to enjoy her idleness without guilt.
Putli spent her time crochetting or tatting. She left the room only to use the bathroom. Then she would loudly proclaim her intention and call, 'I am coming. I wan to pass urine', or, as the case might be, 'I want to wash.'
In either case, if Jerbanoo or Freddy were at the prayer table the anxiously shouted, 'Wait!'
Hastily finishing their prayers they scurried out of the room and called back.
'All right, you can come now'.
Once the all-clear was sounded, Putli made a beeline for the bathroom, carefully shading her face with a shawl from a prayer table.
She was served meals in her cubicle. A tin plate and a spoon, reserved for the occasion, were handed over by a servant boy. She knew she couldn't help herself to pickles or preserves for they would spoil at her toch. Flowers, too, were known to wilt when touched by women in her condition.
The family was permitted to speak to her through closed doors, or, in an emergency, even directly.  Provided they bathed from head to foot and purified themselves afterwards.


The crow eaters, Bapsi Sidhwa.

Los mejores libros del Iceberg de 2016

1) El Iceberg de Oro de 2016 es para Las ratas, de Miguel Delibes. Relato arisco y triste de la miseria en un pueblo agrícola castellano durante el franquismo, Las ratas es la guinda de un año en el que la novela ha dominado el Iceberg.

2) Lullaby, de Chuck Palahniuk, se hace con el Iceberg de Plata. Lullaby es el genio de la nueva corriente de ficción que exagera hasta el límite la realidad.

3) Milena Busquets y su archicelebrado También esto pasará obtiene el Iceberg de Bronce con una valiente novela biográfica. Desmarcándose del retrato familiar exhaustivo y cronológico, Busquets se centra en momentos y aspectos concretos de la relación madre-hija.

El top 5 lo cierra el único libro de no ficción premiado en 2016, En mi barrio no había chivatos, de Arturo San Agustín, y la novela de John Steinbeck Cannery Row.

The 2016 Best Iceberg Series and Films

1) For the first time a TV serie wins The Golden Iceberg: Better Call Saul, Season 1, a creation by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.
The Wire and True Detective were previously awarded by the Iceberg but Saul Goodman makes a deserved first with a humorous and honest story about an attorney's life and about the relation between brothers.

2) Paul Thomas Anderson and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman win The Silver Iceberg with The Master.

3) Another TV serie, a fine BBC production from the 80's, gets the Bronze Iceberg: Smiley's People, directed by Simon Langton with Alec Guiness and John Le Carré giving their best.

El top 5 lo cierran dos obras tremendamente valientes: Bilbao, de Bigas Luna, jugándosela con un film experimental en 1978 que incluso hoy sería tan difícil de producirse, y Birdman, de Alejandro González Iñárritu, con un Edward Norton magistral.

Les millors cançons del 2016 a l'Iceberg

L'Iceberg d'Or és per a un clàssic de la música negra interpretada per blancs, Chicago, i el seu hit Listen.

L'Iceberg de Plata és per a la versió que va fer el compositor Galt MacDermot de Let the sunshine in.

L'Iceberg de Bronze és un homenatge a les bandes sonores de la saga Ocean's: Lazy, de Yellow Hammer.

Tancant el top 5,  Brian Eno amb l'espectacular Golden Hours i les promeses del pop indie espanyol Papaya amb Cosas Fascinantes y Sencillas.

Caballo de sal

Mi alma está ardiendo en el centro de la ciudad. Mira cómo se quema, mira cómo estás. En el ojo del huracán se concentra el placer, 
mira cómo te mueves, mira cómo estás.
El invierno no nos congelará 
aunque no tengamos nada que quemar.

El invierno no nos congelará 
aunque no tengamos nada que quemar.

Camino con tu recuerdo sin saber a dónde voy, 
mira cómo te mueves, mira cómo estás.

La tristeza nos hace daño, crea heridas en tus labios. Mira cómo te hiere, mira cómo estás.
El invierno no nos congelará 
aunque no tengamos nada que quemar.
Mi caballo anda siempre en aguas con sal 
y mi cuerpo ya solo te quiere amar.
Mira cómo te mueves, mira cómo estás.
El invierno no nos congelará 
aunque no tengamos nada que quemar. Mi caballo anda siempre en aguas con sal 
y mi cuerpo ya solo te quiere amar.

Papaya, Caballo de sal.