One less gestation

Figures say a lot. There’s one in particular that I ran across some years ago and then lost in the confusion on my book shelves. The little publication it is in (Radical Journal of Health, April-June 1995) came to light a day or two ago; unaccountably and mysteriously, it has found its way to our [...]

Bottle astray

“Rowdy fan throws bottle at Sachin”, says the headline on the front page of yesterday’s MidDay (Jan 30 ‘06). Some nut in the Karachi crowd threw a “plastic water bottle” at Sachin Tendulkar. MidDay reports this, remembers two previous incidents of crass crowd behaviour, and asks: “What’s with Karachi?” It’s a popular topic of conversation, [...]

Pappu meets a brother (reprise)

In sometimes different versions, this has been published and been in this space a few times before. But it’s something I think about most years on this day; plus Uma writing here reminded me of it. So here it is.
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Not long ago, Pappu Sinha, cook from Patna who wants to be a film star, dropped [...]

Of prevention, this time

Every second Monday Mid-Day column, here. (I wrote it). Your comments welcome.

The other fifty per cent

There’s a sense of privilege I feel at being part of How the Other Half Lives. Because I think of the others whose names you’ll find there — Uma, Anand, Vikrum and Shivam — as unusually thoughtful people.
This blog is something we’ve been tossing around for a couple of months; Shivam was the kick-start [...]

Where it won’t roam

Oh give me a home, where a cellphone won’t roam … On my last visit here, 16 months ago, it didn’t roam; meaning there was no signal. But now there is. So if I stand on the little ledge in front of my friend’s home and look out at the lake, I’m peering through waves [...]

“Marriages” and “parents”

My review of Ruth Vanita’s new book, Love’s Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West appeared in DNA today (Sunday Jan 29). I can’t find it on the web, so here’s what I wrote.
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“Meerut furious over lesbian ‘marriage’” reads a headline as I began writing this review. Two women married each other at [...]

1000 .s

Himal Southasian is an outstanding monthly from Nepal. The January 2006 issue has a number of articles examining the meaning of Gandhi. Among them is Thousand Points, by me. Your comments welcome.

Standing patriotism

Republic Day flag-hoisting at the nearby park, early this morning. The announcer calls all in the park to come be part of the ceremony. As people assemble, we notice that the woman standing beside us is humming, under her breath, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” She sits down on a chair, still humming it.
Just before [...]

Essays

Outlook-Picador entries
Ride Across the River. This essay won the 2005 Outlook-Picador Nonfiction prize, India’s best known award for nonfiction writing.
I had entered the Outlook-Picador competition three times before.
In my first attempt, in 2001, my essay At Home With the Bodies was one of five entries shortlisted for the three prizes, though it [...]