Stars can wait – Jay Basu

I was idly wandering about the aisles of our splendid new library wondering which book to pick up. I was checking off the list that I had planned in my mind. The new Grisham book ‘Appeal’ was still to hit the shelves; the Follet ‘World without end’ that I had been waiting for was still not available...

Read More

Awaz De – Anmol Ghadi

There are some songs that will live with you during your life. This one created by Naushad and sung by Noor Jehan and Surendra in 1946 is like so for me. I enjoy it each time I hear it and always marvel at Noorjehan’s thick and husky Punjaban voice. Of recent, only one singer created such a tonal quality...

Read More

The Lynching of Krishna Menon

Oct 10th - Subedar Ram Singh of 9 Punjab regiment was tired, though relatively young, his lungs were killing him and fear was gnawing deep in his bones & mind. At 14,000 feet, a height his tired body was not accustomed to, pulmonary edema was setting in. He hacked and coughed most of the time, his...

Read More

On Tibet…

Some months ago, Newsweek reported this article, one that made me smile (Reincarnation regulations) – It related to Tibet and China and starts thus - In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. I...

Read More

Bamboo trousers and crinkle shirts

Cover up’s for our skin has come a long way from the stone ages. From leather skins, it graduated to natural material like wool in 9000BC, Linen in 5000BC, Cotton to 3000BC and Silk in 1000BC. Then came a variety of blends and synthetics to help adapt clothing to the human’s ever changing life style…There...

Read More

Ormakkayi – Kozhikode Abdul Khader

Actually I was humming the Yesudas song ‘Pachapanam thatte’ and my mother in law who is visiting us said, can you add that to the CD you are making for me? At that time, I did not know this was originally a drama song done by Abdul Khader for Baburaj many decades ago nor did I know of the debate in...

Read More

Tick Tock Doc, Santos and Cartier

You can locate him on Google, but I saw him by chance. My watch needed a new battery, and like usual, I popped open the back and changed the battery myself, realizing only then that it was a snap open back that required much force to click it back in. It required what they call a watch press, I did...

Read More