India’s largest and most populous State, Uttar Pradesh, has also hosted the highest number of heavy-weights in the country’s politics, including leaders who have occupied high posts in different political parties, Prime Minister downwards. The just reported decision of the Cabinet in the government of that State to set up a Political Training Institute for…

Babies cry for various reasons, including the craving to get attention. The idiom The crying baby gets the milk has its modern version, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The message in these two versions of the idiom is that the most noticeable (or loudest) problems are the ones most likely to get attention. Mysuru…

We are guided by archaeologists to make sense of matter engraved on the stone edicts of a distant past, still being unearthed in many regions across the country. Many of the extinct scripts are beyond the comprehension of the litterateurs of today, however legible the writings, read carvings, may be. The scribbling by the now-gone…

The army of Government staff, numbering close to 50 lakh in the various Departments of the land’s Union Government and a few times that number in 36 Governments of the country’s States and Union Territories put together are the envy of those slogging in the non-government sector including industries, agriculture, healthcare, academics, business establishments and…

The saying To err is human, to forgive is divine is an ancient diktat which may be hard for mortals to adopt in daily life, however noble its message may be. The humorous modification of the saying, attributed to that inimitable public speaker Mark Twain (1835-1910), “To eat is human, to digest is divine” may…

Spoken language has its multitude of characteristics in any tongue ranging from extremely pleasing to unbearably harsh, insulting, humiliating, hurting, shocking, repulsive, irritating, embarrassing and what have you.  While blaming somebody is never a pleasing experience for the person at its receiving end, the reaction it generates can be far less pleasing. The question of…

Narratives featuring events in the land during prehistoric times, with which grand-mothers of yesteryears used to regale children until a few decades ago, but out of fashion nowadays, had their awesome elements apart from causing amusement, if not bewilderment. One such event traces divinity Hanuman asking for the Sun and getting battered upon getting too…

Not all babies are born with the proverbial silver spoon. So also, not all babies are to be found with that coveted gift as they grow into adulthood. A more important phenomenon, sleep, provides a clear contrast between the child and the adult. The child that dodges its weary mother by remaining awake longer than…

Positive outlook and optimism under all circumstances are the watchwords coming from some quarters, ostensibly to save people bugged by depression by keeping alive their hopes in life ahead. The prescription not to lose heart and equanimity in times of difficulty in facing the challenges of daily life has acquired importance and value on a…

The renowned British Statesman Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) has been quoted as saying: There is no permanent friendship in politics; there are only permanent interests. Some quotes attributed to Philosophers who lived at different times in the past trigger thoughts in us as a help in appropriate perception of friendship. The famed strategist Vishnu Gupta,…