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...
I still love my Parker Frontier
Last week I sat at a press event and was busy writing probable questions with my Parker Frontier fountain pen in my black Moleskine notebook when a twenty-something YouTuber whispered in my right ear, ‘Is that an ink pen?’ ‘Yes, it is,’ I said and looked up towards him. He said nothing but his expression...
Cricket and laughter go together in India
Cricket and laughter co-exist… at least sometimes. Yes, we have seen the famous yawn behind the wickets in CWC 2019 and Sarfaraz was trolled like mad for days. The televised matches make sure that every yawning gap between a ball rushing towards the boundary and a fielder diving valiantly to miss it by millimeters, the...
Pushkin makes a calendar all by himself
When someone in these smartphone-infested days sends me a message saying that parenting is for a MOM, I am tempted to write back LOL. These modern day acronyms have a way of seeking revenge, you see. But seriously, a parent isn’t just MOM but has a PAPA too… and this isn’t the same as HAHA....
Jump into the pool, dammit!
Seeing something bad happen and me learning a lesson was never a part of my destiny. In fact I can safely hazard a guess that most people are like me. We love watching, tut-tutting, discussing the importance of doing things the right way… and then going ahead and doing the same thing that had got...
Love and common decency go together
There is no doubt that our world that anyway has a fair share of violence, divisiveness, and hatred needs and deserves to be #fuelledbylove and mutual respect. But wait, it isn’t easy to define love… I am sure it has nothing to do with the public display of cuddling and kissing that you see under...
Make it to the headline of a newspaper
Headlines never mislead you… but those who generally make it there have the potential to. Pick up any daily and the headlines are literally hijacked by news that gives you the jitters and newsmakers hardly deserving to be there. Does this mean there is nothing good happening? Our world is full of achievers and do-gooders,...
Draw a line. Erase a line.
No, the relationship between a child and an adult isn’t a game of drawing and erasing lines. Nor does it do us any good to go ahead and start reading between the lines or giving it a complex meaning or an abstract interpretation. Yet, this is precisely what buddies do – at any age. My...
Visa for an 85 year old man
It is fascinating to see an 85 year old man getting ready to apply for a visa and be with his grandson. I guess a lot of people will read proactive enthusiasm, yearning to plan, energy to explore, a dive into the spirit of a positively interactive life and many other traits that management pundits...
The consonants and vowels in life
Specky, my wife, entered with a frown and said, ‘Phew! Now I have to make a presentation on PowerPoint and it must be in Hindi.’ I looked at Pushkin and he smiled. Only a few minutes back we had been browsing the net and had stumbled upon ‘Shusha’ a font that could be used to...
Attempt the absurd to achieve the impossible
This is me. I’m an optimist. I’ve always tried to achieve the impossible by attempting the absurd. And the best thing is that most of the stories that my life has got irretrievably inter-woven with, are those where optimism fuels the tone and character. No, optimism isn’t necessarily the material that the genetic structure of...