In love with my hatchback
‘What’s good in a Wagon R?’ asked a friend once. I said, ‘Space.’ Space… is what I like best in this car. When you’re inside, you’re certainly never claustrophobic. The car is literally maintenance-free and isn’t demanding at all. It can rush through a crowd, it can zip up the mountains, it can take on...
Science is borderless
Innovations are not a by-product of complex issues tackled inside massive laboratories. Nor are they in the exclusive domain of a privileged few. Innovations need people who will look at their own life and say: ‘I think I can do things differently and live better.’ Now this is almost what Harvey Firestone said: ‘Capital isn’t...
The time for whirling words is over
The 2014 election of ‘hope’ is over. The time for slogans and whirling words is now past. The ruling party must now understand that Modi is right when he says: Desh chal pada hai…Hum chalen ya na chalen (The nation is now moving. We may or may not move) Yes, one of the benefits of...
Sarkar 2014
Does it really matter which party manages to win enough seats to finally get to form a government? Or does it matter if the coalition gets messier? Or does it matter who finally heads the party that forms the government? The buzz round seems to believe that all this matters a lot. The raucous kerb-side...
Don’t be a mug
The mug on my table has enough lessons for our political bigwigs, shabby wigs, no wig, starry wigs, goon wigs, scam wigs, and chic wigs. It has a beautiful curvy nose covering a major part of its face and it is as proud of its nose as we humans are of ours. You know the...
Pepper spray and a dialogue with God
Thich Nhat Hanh wrote: ‘In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.’ This is true of men. This can be true for any human-human situation or conflict. Well, I’m not very sure if this is possible every time but we’ll examine it later. Let us examine other situations now before we go to a...
anarKEY
‘There is a spelling error there,’ some will point out hurriedly. So yes, this is a different spelling, buddy… and you’re not accustomed to seeing or using it. But the wonderful thing is that this spelling has a ‘key’ attached to it and you, I know, are someone who is surrounded by locked doors. ‘Locked...
Politics, confrontation, and the will to serve the nation
The three don’t actually go together. Politicians never confront other politicians with full vigour and we all know it is more like a big show of confrontational drama like the one the forces of India and Pakistan enact at Wagah Border. And we also know how heartfelt the will to serve the nation is in...
PicTale 001 – One early morning in CP
The place is CP in Delhi… the outer circle near Baba Kharag Singh Marg. I was out there for an early morning walk to discover Central Delhi. Specky saw them first, stopped, and said, ‘Look, I didn’t know street children could smile and have fun. I’ve always seen them struggle on crossings trying to sell...
The truth behind freedom
Yatra. Yatra is the truth behind freedom. Yatra is the truth that the historians and all the other thinkers and writers have mentioned but never really got down to identifying it as the one vital reason that led to India’s freedom. When I say yatra, I mean travel… travel is what opens the mind to...
Edward Snowden wants to be in Ram Rajya
Where’s Edward Snowden? President Morales says Snowden was not on his plane. Some journalists feel he is nowhere to be found in the Transit area of Moscow airport too. And no, I’m not trying to investigate and find out where he is. This is because I just happened to throw in the drift bottle in...
We want CSK to be HOT!
Yellow. Golden yellow. Turmeric. The favourite of the Gods! Mangal. Pure talent… What am I talking about? Some mumbo-jumbo about colour therapy? No. I am talking about the colour that is associated with CSK… well, not just CSK, but also with Chennai as a city. Chennai, CSK, and this wonderfully sublime colour connect to give...
