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...
The great teacher analysed
Technology may not be what you teach your student, but technology is certainly what you use when you teach. The bits and the bytes, the internet, the social media, and all things that travel at speeds that the mind cannot even think of, are as real as the bunch of students that you see in...
I preserve. I nurture. I elevate. Review of ‘My lawfully wedded husband’
I was helplessly spell-bound and I’m sure, like the author, ‘I loved it all. I love travelling, so I was happy just’ reading and ‘drinking it all in.’ The stories in the collection took me into little nooks and corners of strange minds and unknown perceptions and I loved going there. From the unlawfully wedded...
The Punjabization of insight. Review of ‘Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana’
If you don’t know what rustic philosophising really is, see this movie and know it. The movie takes you straight into the heart of metaphysics that ordinary people repeat and believe in… more so in the untutored villages of Punjab where they whole-heartedly mix and grind it all with slap-stick humour to offer you a...
His life was a series of deceptions. Review of ‘Mothers, lovers and other strangers’
There are many ways this review can be twisted and turned. I can easily say that despite the title of the book, it is an engrossing murder mystery where Inspector Waghle travels far north for the sake of unravelling the truth that was simply trying its best to get erased. But no, the book isn’t...
“Till now the people didn’t have a choice. They now have a choice.” An interview with Arvind Kejriwal
I sometimes wonder what I would be had I been born on 16 June 1968 in Sivani in Hissar. Would I too have gone on to complete my BTech from IIT, Kharagpur? Would I too have subsequently joined the IRS and then left it to get the Government of India get serious about the...
Who votes?
What you see and what you imagine can co-exist… not always in a peaceful way, but they can tolerate each other’s presence, I’m sure. So just as voters imagine some promised future, the politician sees them all as distinct groups of people to be sold different dreams. The vital question then is: Who really votes?...
Camera for an intelligent dreamer!
There was a time when photography was seeped in a complex universe that the uninitiated was afraid to step into. Then came a phase when despite the complexities remaining the same, people dared to get into photography because the cameras had suddenly become affordable. The digital camera era demolished whatever boundaries there were left and...
The real fiction of good mentors
Where did this word ‘mentor’ come from? In the 8th century BC, the Greek writer Homer wrote an epic poem describing Odysseus’s adventures during his 10-year voyage home after the Trojan War. While he was gone, he entrusted the care and education of his beloved son, Telemachus, to his faithful friend Mentor. Almost three thousand...
Stand out. Review of ‘Personal branding for Dummies’
Susan Chritton helpfully informs us that ‘success stories inevitably involve people who stand out from the crowd’ and that ‘no one is going to manage your personal brand except you.’ Combining the two we know that a well understood and well managed personal brand is what success is all about. Obviously then, ‘taking charge of...
GRAND entry can be smart as well
What is a grand entry all about? Fanfare, joyous moods, perceived advantages, interactive advantages, scope to move ahead, possibilities, favourable moments, and an accent on ascent are all in one way or the other associated with a GRAND entry. Well, almost all of them are there with the new smartphone that Samsung has just introduced:...
On Book Reviews
You’ll be reading my book reviews in this column week after week… and as I sat pondering on which book to review for you first, I said to myself, ‘Hey, let me begin by defining what a book review is and how best to write one.’ The decision was made in less than a minute...
