Newspaper headlines are not slogans for politicians
I still read newspapers. They educate, inform, and give a direction to the views that I hold. It is newspapers that print stuff that someone somewhere may never want to read in print. It is also the responsibility of newspapers to make sure that they do not filter out the unsavory facts that the powerful...
Go with the flow
Trends in book writing keep changing ever so often. The readership patterns shifts from one genre to another and so most of us discover that sales graphs shift strangely from romances to thrillers to spy craft to horror to science fiction to historical fiction or to biographies, self-improvement, and other genres. It is obviously the...
The proud water droplet
I am the sea with waves rising highThere are times I’ve touch the sky.I am the pond, stream and riverThat see parched throats quiver. I am the State and I leadLaws in wetlands of needInside a threat or a treatyAnd unprompted graffiti… In words that preach anythingIn pitches for brands to singI live in the...
Stone cliffs, silk, and bloody tales of Chanderi
Many travel enthusiasts know of Chanderi cloth but may not be aware that 1 km of silk used in this 20 to 22 DN fabric weighs just 1.5 gm and that 190 gm is the general weight of a sari. Chanderi isn’t just about hand-woven silk cotton and pure silk extracted from the roots of...
Your degree is never enough
Most of us believe that education is getting hold of a degree in one or the other field and that any reading that extends beyond relevant textbooks is something that is just another pastime. It isn’t. Real education, let me add here, happens through well-written books. Even Dr Seuss tells us that ‘the more that...
Thoughts as 2020 comes to an end
What does one say to an year that has made a lot of effort to remain at top of the unpopularity charts? Obviously, a big thank you… because trying times, tough moments, and all the wrongs ever inflicted on us by time invariably metamorphose into happy looking steppingstones that help us go across a struggling...
Travel, Music, and Technology
Travel changes you. So does music. I have always believed that a trek in the mountains is jazz for the nerves, a dip in the sea is pop for the mind, and steps into the diverse cultures of the world are the ragas that connect life with creative thoughts. And if you aren’t already aware,...
Knowing what it is to create
See – she said – see what is not there to seeNo, not just behind the billboardsOf feats that swagger in gutsy spree.Even cupboards with glass doors hoardCompulsive reckless momentsOn their knees, imploringThe Gods of good omensTo appear and transform their boringWait for attention. And a conversation.All this is there for all to seeAnd even...
A cocktail of stories that charm the mind
I love reading short stories because they resemble a couple on a park bench watching an ephemeral sunset (or a sunrise, if you prefer) waiting eagerly to discover at least one startling moment every time they are there. ‘It happens’ is a collection of short stories written by Bhaswar Mukherjee that I have just finished...
Stories from Uttarakhand
Stories are good when they connect with readers and thus to say that some are only for children can sometimes lead us to miss out those that have been written well. ‘Tales from the Himalayas’ is a collection of 17 stories by Priyanka Pradhan that many may miss if they assume the volume is for...
Being one
One thought and one resolve,One way ahead. One destination.Families and organisations evolveAnd so does a nation.The language and the grammarThe art and the scienceOf relationships together must stirForms of defiance into reliance. Call this a marriage or companionshipA target, objective, or goalOr a function in a championship —Or if you must, eyes needing kohl.Diverse slogans,...
We are all travelers
The soft sound of a pin dropping on a rug. Even the whimper of thoughts as I gently scratch my head as I think. Or the thunderous buildup of musical notes as someone unknown somewhere strange walks in or rushes out or does whatever has to be done. There are no rules of any of...
