A molehill called ‘a slip of the tongue’
Poor molehills and moles have been a troubled lot ever since Nicholas Udall wrote that ‘the Sophistes of Grece coulde through their copiousness make an Elephant of a flye, and a mountaine of a mollehill’ in 1548. Mole, as a known word had existed for less than two hundred years when this happened. But molehills...
Forms are always funny
Our RWA, like any other RWA in our universe, is like a circus where even acrobats strive to tickle the funny bone of residents. If you think this is untrue, let me tell you about the day they asked me to complete a form. Form? – I asked – What sort of form do you...
Forever between a yes and a no
Every time there is a request to review a book and I say yes, all the other books lying unread before me can do nothing but wait expectantly. And I have been doing this for ages. The number of unread books has grown. I am wondering now if every yes to read one book actually...
The importance of being different
‘I don’t like kindle. It doesn’t smell like a book,’ tweeted a friend, and the words left me wondering if a kindle must really smell and feel like something that it is not. For instance, a book never adopts the smugness of a smartphone, and it doesn’t bother me. Our obsession with making everything seem...
Khabar Pakki Hai!
Khabar pakki hai?Khabar pakki hai!Where is the point in spending even that oft talked about twenty minutes reading a daily newspaper or that hour or so gaping at the idiot-box if all one gets to read or listen or see is stuff that may or may not be right. Or meaningful. When I read that...
The secret life of aggressive loudspeakers
This post is a satire on the use of loudspeakers... and also loud speakers.
Interviewing a bulldozer
If you think it was easy to fix an interview with a bulldozer, think umpteen times. These massive machines have no time these days as a zillion sarkari farmaans (government notices) make a beeline to them even before they are fully awake. No coffee or fresh lime in tepid water for them. They must rush...
The humour files
I have recently taught a pigeon how to remain seduced by humour. He no longer finds comedy a threat to his convictions. I convinced him that humour isn’t scary. Not even if it happens inside the parliament or a place of worship. Or the office when facing a serious conflict. Or even at home when...
War
If you think war is an unacceptable word, think about our war of words, a war of nerves, tug of war, or even all being fair in love and war, and you will agree that we are forever in some or the other war zone. Always. Big businesses in a turf war, political parties on...
Hats, turbans, scarves, ghunghats, and hijabs
To wear or not to wear a hat, a cap, a turban, a gamchha, a scarf, a ghunghat, a hijab, or even shaving your head is a choice that need not ever be the cause for a controversy. It is in the same league as wanting to have the freedom to wear torn jeans, short...
Listicles are no longer a raging trend anywhere
For quite some months now, my email inbox has grown obese. You know what too many calories can do to a body… right? Well, even my inbox has had an over-dose of empty info-calories that has persisted for months now. I believe this is because new products, technological or otherwise, have kept a low-profile and...
Stray thoughts, stray comments, and stray dogs