Though most people do not dare to say so in public, the citizens of India, who are largely not involved in politics, felt unconvinced by the public display of sadness by the Prime Minister at the vast toll that the pandemic has taken on our sisters and brothers. Many felt that his seemed a less […]
When a Prime Minister Weeps. Read More »
My review of this book was published in THE TRIBUNE on April 4, 2021. It is a fascinating account of the attempts made to conquer the ten highest peaks in the Himalaya in the last century. The article/ review is reproduced below. Avay Shukla “This is a book about the mountains. But it is
BOOK REVIEW: THE WORLD BENEATH THEIR FEET BY SCOTT ELLSWORTH Read More »
If Bal Narendra had spent some more time in school instead of rushing off to sell tea at a railway station which did not even exist at that time, he would have imbibed some wisdom from a couple of old adages: Don’t burn your bridges behind you because you may need them again tomorrow, and, Be courteous to
MR. MODI MAY CONTINUE TO RULE, BUT CAN HE GOVERN ? Read More »
A new dawn in Puranikoti The sun doesn’t just rise in my village of Puranikoti ( 7000 feet, pop 190 ) – it explodes. One
SUNRISE IN PURANIKOTI Read More »
At the entrance to the Hall of Remembrance in the US Holocaust Memorial, Washington, the following words are inscribed: GUARD YOURSELF AND GUARD YOUR SOUL CAREFULLY LEST YOU FORGET THE THINGS YOUR EYES SAW. The Jews in France have a shorter version of this exhortation: N’OUBLIONS PAS or LEST WE FORGET. The Jews have a long memory. It’s time
Easterine Kire, the prize-winning Indian novelist from Nagaland, has provided us a lovely collection of short stories through The Rain-Maiden and the Bear-Man, accompanied by beautiful colour illustrations by graphic artist Sunandini Banerjee. The title-story concerns a man who, though blessed with the love of the beautiful Rain-Maiden, is captive to the sadly common male
“The Rain-Maiden and the Bear-Man” by Easterine Kire Read More »
Wandana Sonalkar is a self-proclaimed atheist and in this autobiographical account titled ‘Why I am not a Hindu Woman’, Sonalkar critically reflects on her position on why she has chosen to renounce her religion. This work adds to the list of works where authors are writing to declare their religious positions like Kancha Illaiah’s ‘Why
Why I am not a Hindu Woman Read More »
The year 2020, according to the Chinese zodiac, was the Year of the Rat; it actually turned out to be the year of the Bat, but that’s another story. In India it was the year of the Rat- race, and the race is nearing the finish line in 2021. The participants are all our constitutional
RACE TO THE BOTTOM Read More »
Jogishwar Singh ( IAS 1976 ) is the bureaucrat who literally came in from the cold- from his almost ten thousand feet high perch as Deputy Commissioner of Kinnaur to the pleasant cantons of Switzerland. He is also a most unusual civil servant, probably the only one who was selected twice for the IAS, rejected
BOOK REVIEW: KINNAUR-UNLIKELY TALES by JOGISHWAR SINGH. Read More »
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