A painful journey. When is the arrival? It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”…
of mice and men: Random thoughts
January 29, 2022I do not know why or how. The day following our Republic Day, which went well all over the country, including Lal Chowk in Srinagar, J&K, I decided I must try a column of my traditional Abracadabra in a mutated form to touch upon topical subjects or the remembered ones. The question arose. What about…
Republic Day musings on India’s march since Independence
January 24, 2022Some intellectuals are of the opinion that we must trust people and take their advice. Dr. U.R. Ananthamurthy was one such intellectual. In one of his Durbars with his courtiers he was asked what should be done when they are cheated going by their advice. Dr. Ananthamurthy’s answer was to the point: ‘Well, first verify…
Long March of a Malayali Boy From Darkness to Light ! —2
January 13, 2022You are the architect of your life — Swami Vivekananda [Continued from yesterday] Joseph was not sure of success with the Bishop but mustered courage and knocked the door. “Knock and it shall be opened unto you.” Is it not written so in the Bible? The door opened and Joseph was welcomed with a warm…
Long March of a Malayali Boy From Darkness to Light —1
January 12, 2022You are the architect of your life — Swami Vivekananda Recently I got a book titled ‘In Search Of A Destiny’ with a hangline ‘A Life’s World Journey.’ The title seemed rather an abstraction and the hangline bombastic. Author’s name a web of gossamer made of english alphabets! Joseph Ulahannan Matchanickal. The text reveals that…
A Place Apart: English translation of some Kodava poems
January 8, 2022There are two basic forms of writing. One is prose and another verse. Prose is used in speaking and writing, distinct from verse. Prose follows a basic grammatical structure. In verse, poetry, there is compromise on grammar and even use of words and phrases. It is called poetic liberty. It follows a metrical structure. With…
What it takes to be a leader? —2
January 5, 2022Concern, Confidence and Courage? [Continued from yesterday] History says, Julius Caesar, the Roman General, was giving a chase to his rival Pompey who had escaped to Egypt. Caesar and his men were in the ship. In the high seas, they were overtaken by a storm and the ship was in danger. There was commotion and…
What it takes to be a leader? —1
January 4, 2022Concern, Confidence and Courage? We often hear the refrain ‘leadership crisis.’ When Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister and Vallabhbhai Patel was not there, we heard political pundits asking, ‘After Nehru who?’ A foreign journalist and author Welles Hangen had even written a book with that title in 1963, a year before Nehru died….
Makers of India after Independence
January 1, 2022Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Architect of the Indian Constitution, said in his speech on January 26, 1950: “If hereafter things go wrong, we will have nobody to blame except ourselves. Not to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man or to trust him with powers which enable him to subvert their institutions….
Indra Nooyi: A taste of Pepsi Cola —1
December 29, 2021This is the story of a Hindu Brahmin girl Indra Krishnamurthy. She was born in October 1955 in Chennai (Madras). She was a middle child, dark-skinned, tall and skinny. She had an elder sister and a younger brother. Her paternal grandfather was a retired District Judge. He built this huge house named ‘Lakshmi Nilayam’ using…
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