A 24- year- old Indian student was shot dead near the Boston University in USA on April 19. He was a grad student from Odisha, nearing completion of his degree at the University’s School of Management. As the news went live on transcontinental wires, my thoughts flew to his parents and the excruciating process they […]
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Month: April 2012
In Praise Of The Indian Middle Class
It was the Anna phenomenon that threw the Indian middle class into the limelight. For the first time since 1947, a swathe of humanity lifted itself up and marched into the Ramlila grounds and the gaze of the waiting TV cameras. Until that moment, the lot had remained invisible; they did not vote, they did […]
Zohra Sehgal: The Winking Dervish
When mind triumphs over matter, you become Zohra Sehgal. How else do you explain that someone born in 1912 is still relevant to us? Still loved, adored and still smiling at life with a wink and a saucy grin after a lifetime of challenges in an age when people far younger and stronger than her […]
Gratitude…
A new country. New faces. New culture. And endless stretch of empty time that was a wishful thought until a few months back is now a reality. Often I tried to find a sense of belonging in all these. Compared to my quest for a more purposeful life and years of running around like […]
Memory…
Memory is nothing but a compound a distillation an essence a coming together seeping together staying together of everything that the eyes drank the skin tasted the breath sang the soul heard and never forgot and that is why when breeze mixes with rain you suddenly smell pine needles and distant snow and damp roses […]
Web…
Emotions sometimes seem so unnecessary. The thoughts, the fears, the assumptions, the pre-suppositions, the questions which play with our thought processes and create an unnecessary noise, distract silence and keep our minds constantly busy. Not to forget the need for ‘dramatisation’ that a normal person is taught from his childhood. When a person is hurt, his first reaction should be a […]
Love Lost…
It was a rainy day. I was waiting for my first lecture to begin in the classes I had joined for my entrance exam. In the nervousness of the first day, I realized I had reached too early and was the first one to arrive. The second person to arrive changed my life forever. He […]
Onus…
The two convicts in the Pune BPO employee rape-cum-murder case, Purshottam Borate and Pradip Komokate, were sentenced to death, sometime back. News of sexual violence against women sends me into an overdrive.I am approaching 50 but am as angry, as touchy about this business of the second sex as I was, 30 years ago. The reason […]
Not Me…
I feel woolly in the head, often. It’s a light, airy feeling, of a benevolent happy detachment, if pushed to analyse. Those are silent, reflective moments I break free in, to float away from the immediate so I can observe the circus in action, all around. I watch the cast, you and me and those […]
18 Till I Die..
Was it yesterday that I beamed at the fact that I had turned 18? I remember standing in one of the corridors of Seshadripuram College huddled with my friends, celebrating a milestone that added an extra zing to the already raging estrogen. I was 18. Yes. 18. Always wanted to be since I was a […]
Page 3 Aviation!
“So, how are you going to travel to Mumbai? Train?” asked my grandmother when I called to tell her that I am travelling to the city of dreams for the first time on work. I said, “Ajji, they’re sending me by flight. Indian Airlines from Bangalore to Mumbai and Kingfisher on my way back home.” What […]
Summer Special: Dahiwala Paneer
For a very long time, I did not know that paneer is cottage cheese. Until of course, in fifth standard, I saw a recipe by Tarla Dalal on TV and she clarified that cottage cheese is paneer. Tarla Dalal followed by Sanjeev Kapoor are the people I resort to when I want a super yum […]