Today is Feb 29, a leap day. As a young boy, to me, it was synonymous with the birthday of Morarji Desai, the fourth prime minister of India. He came into power in 1977, at the age of 81 but since he was born on Feb 29, we joked that he was just 20 years old! I was not even…
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…
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…
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 relief marking the end of my final exams in summer would give way to anticipation of my annual trip to Bombay. I would travel by the Udyan Express that would reach Bombay at 7:00 am in the morning. I would peer out of the window as the train pulled into the Dadar Railway Station and as the train slowly…
“Rest in next” was the tag line with which my paternal grandfather ended some of his postcards. He lived in Ankola near Karwar on the Western Coast of India. My dad received letters from him on a monthly basis. The letters were sent to acknowledge the receipt of a money order that my dad sent him each month and there…
Once in a while, I come across a book that captivates me. The author is able to draw me into his or her world and take me along on a journey in which I am an interested and intrigued companion. Homer (Sonny) Hickham Jr.’s memoirs titled “Rocket Boys” is one such book and I just finished reading it last night.…
No, this is not a reference to my age, though it very well could be. This is my fiftieth post on this blog and time for me to reflect. Now I know that there are prolific bloggers who blog every day or even multiple times a day. I’m certainly not one of these individuals. I had no intentions of starting…
“Romance of Postage Stamps” was a book on postage stamps that I read several times in the late seventies and early eighties. I’m not sure how it came into our possession, it might have been a gift from my grandfather or my brother might have bought it. It was a neat book that provided an excellent overview to an amateur…