Indulge me for a couple of minutes and picture yourself waking up each day, understanding what everyone around you is saying and conversing with them, only for them to not understand a word you say. You are not inebriated and you are not in a strange land, you are in fact at home and you are conversing with your family…
Bhala tha kitna, apna bachpan Bhala tha kitna Bhala tha kitna, apna bachpan Bhala tha kitna How wonderful was our childhood How wonderful How wonderful was our childhood How wonderful Hemant Kumar’s sonorous voice was reproduced by the LP playing on my uncle’s radiogram. It was a midsummer’s night in Bombay in 1975 and I listened to the song along…
When we first moved to New England, I was smitten by the scenery. We moved in summer and the trees were tall and green. Narrow roads wound their way surreptitiously through towns and the countryside. For long stretches, they were bordered by stonewalls. And the trees, tall and green, flanked the roads on either side, the sun peering through the…
We tend to drive around a fair bit in our neighbouring towns since our son loves to go on long car rides. Even though we have lived here a few years, I’m still taken in by the beauty and never tire of it. Earlier this year, while driving along the ridge of a hill, I came across a tree that…
I remember the first time I told my daughter a bedtime story. She was a little over two and not in the mood to sleep one night. Jungle Book was the ideal story since she loved animals. Her curiosity was piqued as I narrated the adventures of Mowgli. When I got to Sher Khan and “roared”, she burrowed closer to…
While driving through my neighborhood a few months ago, I happened to pass a house that had a number of items placed on its driveway with an accompanying “Free” sign. There were the usual knickknacks – items once bought but of no interest to the owner now. What caught my eye, however, was the sizable pile of books. As I…
On this Teacher’s Day, I would like to honor a teacher whose classes I have not attended but from whom I have learned a lot throughout my life and still continue to do so. I had originally posted this on Facebook in September 2016. September 5th is celebrated as Teacher’s Day in India. It commemorates the birthday of Dr Sarvepalli…
Long before Arnab Goswami screamed his opinion on Republic TV, long before cricketers such as Dhoni and Tendulkar touted myriad products on TV, long before another mother-in-law and daughter-in-law duo sparred on yet another teary soap-opera spinoff and if you can dare imagine, long before the dirge that served as Doordarshan’s signature tune ushered in the day’s program with an…
The world of sport has given us some iconic images that remain indelibly etched in our minds. Kapil Dev, captain of the victorious Indian cricket team, holding aloft the Prudential Cup on June 25th, 1983 is one such image. India had won just one match previously in the last two editions of the world cup and not even their most…