Vantage point
Know the territory Understand when To rise high To reach The vantage point In short Keep track of time And you will get The best views Of both the rising And the setting sun.
The graffiti walls near Meher Chand Market in Delhi
Walking on the connecting lanes near Lodhi colony in Delhi with a part of Meher Chand market on one end and Khanna market on the other, I realized that government quarters need not be as drab and lifeless as the jobs are for those who stay in them. The quarters have a charming old-world feel...
Power is toxic to culture
Power and culture are in perennial conflict with each other. Countries experience this and so do homes. States and Union Territories in India know this. Politicians too understand the phenomenon and yet go on stoking power conflagrations. Corporates get into the heart of power contests more readily than adopting a culturally friendly attitude. Families are...
All that SAREGAMA fails to address
‘Where on earth are pa-dha-ni-sa?’ asked a friend and because I wasn’t aware if he was really talking about musical notes, I asked, ‘What? I mean, are you into music now?’ ‘No,’ he said, ‘I am talking about the Saregama Caravan, that expensive gadget that I now call digital waste.’ A couple of hours of...
The right approach to resolutions
Life exists between the said and unsaid, read and unread, and thoughts that stay and those that fly away. This is the real constant and we are all somewhere in between but forever believing that we are on one or the other shore. This is one reason why I consider resolutions in life so full...
The magic of technology keeps us all younger
Smartphone marketers believe that the Indian youth is fascinated with clicking selfies, loves to watch videos, roams around with noise cancellation headsets, and is the only segment that will prefer innovations like the party mode that helps connect upto six devices with the same parentage to play and listen to the same song. The biggest...
Must writers shut-up and shut-off while writing?
These days when I pick up a work of fiction I am literally dragged into a net of words where characters seem comfortable with Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and sometimes even Instagram and I find this strange. Plots hover around villains communicating on Gmail, heroes are Whatsapping poetry to their girl-friends, and long-distance conversations are happening...
A good smartphone is like a poem crafted well
A good poem is like a smartphone that uses innovations that convert the intangibles of technology into user-friendly features… and so even good smartphones, like good poems, must often use clear actionable motives, memorable design aspects, and concrete software inclusions to make a point. Like great poetry, good smartphones are bothered about meter, rhyme, form,...
The future arrives seamlessly
The future is poised to arrive seamlessly for everyone in India. Among other parameters is obviously the potential to own and use technology effectively. One doesn’t necessarily have to drive an expensive car to be able to afford a smartphone that connects with all new-age aspirations. Yes, even the youth of Tier-III and Tier-IV cities...
Look who’s watching me
Don’t ever think you are not being watched. Even when you think there is no one around and you are surrounded by silence. Even when it is dark and nothing is visible. Even when there are people around busy doing their work. Eyes don’t walk and even when they shift their glance they do it...
The adrenalin rush of chasing a killer
Let me begin by writing that I stay quite near Paharganj and have walked through its lanes and by-lanes many times. The place is densely packed, is reputed to have the birth place of crime in the capital just round the corner, is full of hotels for back-packers with quite a few of them known...
One shot. One kill.
There are Bibles and then there are handbooks for everyone interested from making bombs to creating political conflicts. These can be long-drawn and full of jargon that the lay reader may or may not fully understand. It is the same with the art of being a great sniper. The best way is always to get...
