By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam There was a time, not too long ago, when I woke up in the morning and decided for myself what kind of day it was going to be. These days, I wake up and my phone decides for me. It tells me my sleep score was 62 percent, which is apparently…

By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam There is a particular kind of faith that gets instilled in Indian school children somewhere between learning the national anthem and being taught not to talk to strangers. It comes wearing white and black stripes and goes by the rather grand name of the pedestrian crossing. Our teachers stood us in…

By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam There was a time or so our grandmothers insisted, when a neighbour dropped in with a plate of payasam simply because it was Tuesday and the mood had struck her. No festival demanded it, no impending favour justified it and certainly no reciprocal plate of anything was expected in return. I…

By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam There was a time, not very long ago, when a walk was simply a walk. You stepped out into the evening air because your legs asked for it or because the mind needed a little unburdening or because the mango tree at the end of the road was worth another look…

By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam There is a particular kind of democracy that flourishes in India without ever appearing in any political science textbook and I have had the privilege of observing it from two rather different vantage points over the years, first as a resident of an apartment complex governed by its own welfare association…

By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam There comes a moment in every man’s life when he realises that the world has quietly marched ahead and forgotten to leave him a note. Mine arrived the morning my old phone, a faithful companion of many years, decided it had laboured enough and began switching itself off in the middle…

By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam I attended a function the other day where the chief guest arrived twenty minutes late and the entire hall rose as though a great wind had passed through it. What struck me was not the man himself but the small army that preceded him. There was someone to carry his folder,…

By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam There was a time when the very mention of a flight filled me with a quiet thrill. As a young man, the idea of being lifted into the sky felt like a small miracle granted to ordinary mortals. I would reach the airport hours in advance, not out of anxiety but…

By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam There is a peculiar arrangement in my neighbour’s home that everyone there calls dog ownership. They believe they own a dog. The dog, a portly fellow named Bruno, believes something quite different and on the evidence, I would say the dog is the better judge. Bruno arrived as a small bundle…

The Lighter Side  By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam  There is a wooden board hanging in almost every drawing room of our country these days and it carries three words painted in a cheerful font. Live, Laugh, Love. Nobody is quite sure who started this trend, but it has spread faster than any government scheme ever has. The board hangs above the…