Bharat, Sanatana Dharma, ONOE et al

India is a fascinating country. Dear me, did I just unknowingly drop an inadvertent brick? Should I have said Bharat is a fascinating country? Or, to hedge my bets and err or the side of caution, should I have said India, that is Bharat, is a fascinating country? Keep both sides happy? Damned if I …

And good luck with the spring cleaning

I have come to grips with one of the great verities of life. It is that your desire to get rid of detritus collected over the years at home, deliberately or inadvertently, grows in inverse proportion to the intention of doing away with it. Like Topsy from Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I think it just ‘grow’d.’ …

Chandrayaan-3 and Praggnanandha over the moon

Two events occurred, serendipitously, over the past week, gazillion miles apart, that had pretty much the whole of India’s 1.4 billion people on the edge of their seats. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) pride and joy, Chandrayaan-3, was hurtling towards the south pole or the dark side of the moon, orbiting closer and closer …

The right to remain silent etc.

There can be little argument that the genre of crime fiction, whether in book or film form, is the most addictive avenue of diversion that most readers and viewers long for. To be curled up in bed on a cold and wet evening, thumbing through a P.D. James or a Dorothy Sayers mystery with a …

Much ado over a flying kiss

 The flying kiss, a largely fashionable western affectation (though also fairly common in elite social circles in this country), is suddenly in the news here in India that is Bharat Mata. The airy gesture, also known as an ‘air kiss’, was provided by none other than the tallest leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi earlier …

       Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story.’ Where do I begin?

I have a true confession to make. I am ashamed to admit that I have not heard a single song by Taylor Swift. At least, not till I decided to write this column. I blush to disclose that the lady’s name passes by me as the idle wind. Her records have broken all manner of …

Yorkers and a Deep Third Man at Wimbledon

Tennis: the most perfect combination of athleticism, artistry, power, style, and wit. A beautiful game, but one so remorselessly travestied by the passage of time. Martin Amis, celebrated novelist and essayist. ‘Anyone for tennis?’ Why those three words became a cliché for books published and stage plays enacted during the turn of the twentieth century …