Rankings point to the right direction
An article published in ‘World Population Review’ says that ‘education is considered to be a human right and plays a key role in human, social, and economic development. Education promotes gender equality, promotes peace, and increases a person’s chances of having more opportunities in life.’ We are well aware that education needs to be imparted...
The subtle art of stepping away
Deciding to step away from one path or way of life is no reason for panic as another magically appears even before one realizes. So when one leaves the tarred road, a meandering path through meadows or forests may appear… maybe there will be a walk along a gently flowing river. This is what gives...
September Symphonies
September has, so far, been a month full of actions and actionable dreams. We in India have had everything from the way Modi hugged the ISRO Chief to calm him to the way he hugged Trump to balm him and the world called them economic nationalists. The ‘Seva Saptah’ or week of service from September...
Travel Idea
‘Will to preserve heritage,’ he read on the menu-card, and then added, ‘an interesting name for a cocktail.’ A nod in the affirmative and he was soon ready to join the group with a glass in his hands. The conversation seemed to be floating on a sea of terms that sounded as intriguing as a...
From rollicking to rolling and back
There are two kinds of people that I know of. The first sort asks everyone: ‘How do you spend your weekend?’ and goes around bumbling into a web of plans that others have made and I call him one who is brain-dead. This person usually asks his friends, relatives, distant relatives, and sometimes even strangers...
Reviews are not for the creator
I consider God to be the master creator. He is a writer, poet, illustrator, caricaturist, doodler, inventor, explorer, scientist, and someone who is forever pushing in surprising products. Like, for instance, a few days back the newspapers were talking about strange species in the deepest part of the oceans and some of them were yet...
Article 370 – is it political pluck or incompetent tomfoolery?
There is an old joke where a tourist’s car got stuck in a muddy patch and raising acceleration didn’t help. A local on a bullock cart was passing by and helped him in exchange for a certain favour. This seemingly helpful local told the politician that he assisted many such people who regularly got stuck...
Interview with the AICTE Chairman Mr Anil D Sahasrabudhe
When Frank Gehry talked about architecture speaking of its time and place, but yearning for timelessness, he couldn’t possibly have visited the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) building on Nelson Mandela Marg in New Delhi. Timelessness has been the essence of whatever decisions have emerged from the offices here where natural light and...
Technology is a double shot of espresso
I’ve always believed that technology dances with the spirit of life… and I did not use the word humanity because from cellular agriculture and medicine to entertainment and information, from the ethics of politics and the economics of infrastructure, and even from the sweat and blood of relationships to the heat and dust of yearnings...
Is the NEP about old mind-sets in new bodies?
Some thinkers believe that reports and recommendations invariably remain what they are if unaccompanied by the micro-details of strategic implementation maneuvers. A bit higher in the hierarchy of proposed actions and actionable steps is the wave theory of political will of the powers, the calculus of economic certainties and uncertainties, the gravitational laws pervading in...
Learning, age, and a bar
If some readers are wondering why I decided to let the title have ‘a bar’ in it, the reason is simple. I have always believed that getting into sticky situations is an addiction for humans. I mean, we cannot live without bumbling and stumbling into one ever so often. Quite obviously then, finding a way...
Condensed milk, rooh-afza, and water from a mountain stream
It was at an art exhibition that I realized what hunger could mean. The walls were a pale ivory, the lights were sufficient and diffused, and the art panels were all in innumerable hues of black and grey. There was no one around when I entered and coming in after driving through the colour dense...
