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...
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...
Fitness is all about seeking the right balance
‘Life is one big gym…’ I began, but before I could go any further, Specky, my wife nodded her head in disagreement. She said, ‘Oh! Come on. Life can also be Talkatora Garden, right? People can go there and walk without having to pay anything. Why must life be a gym? Why must it be...
What do Indians do with a smartphone?
We are a country where even morning walkers are seriously reading or watching something on their smartphone and so the phone-peering gentleman driving a car appears less funny. Passing by a Metro station a few days back, I noticed that every battery-operated rickshaw driver was calmly sitting on his driving seat and gazing at a...
Skill progress is all about willingness to adopt and adapt
Skill progress is all about willingness to adopt and adapt Progress is another buzzword in the corridors of power today. There are multiple reports applauding the statistics that administrators placed throughout India are loading the decision-makers in the Centre. According to newspaper columns, the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna “is aiming at training one crore...
Toilets and UFO sightings
In a country where a fraction of us go ahead and prepare for the TOEFL and IELTS exams, there are millions who will fail a simple vocabulary test. Ask them the meaning of these terms that the privileged few of us know and understand and you’ll know at least one of the most sordid truths...
On Modi XI
That anchor, I’m sure, was talking of Modi Eleven And their dreams and day-dreams of a global heaven But critics, you see Say it was Xi And now DD’s credibility is down to minus seven Arvind Passey 22 September 2014
Mr Modi needs to graduate from selling tea to cleaning a nation
Another warm Sunday afternoon as I accompanied Specky, my wife to a department store for a few final things to be bought before we finally catch our flight for London and a well deserved holiday. London… the city that everyone says has charm exuding out of every pore of every skin colour that you can...
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...
To write, or not to right
‘Does a name on a form over-shadow an appearance in the heart?’ he asked and then went on, ‘Both are shadows but one pulsates forever and the other smudges and fades away in a few years.’ The feminists argued that the name on a piece of paper pulsates with life and demands more than just...
Blobs on my Blog 009 – An enigma called Modi
Mr Blob, as was his usual self, was quite upbeat about Modi. He called him a modernistic messiah and someone who wasn’t shy of technology and wasn’t averse to opening up India to the rest of the world. Ms Blob, however, wasn’t as upbeat as him. She was convinced that Modi was autocratic and...
