Carolanche

Yep, that’s what this here site is staggering under right now as I write this, a carolanche.
Why?
Because yesterday, this happened. And because this here site once mentioned the lady concerned.
Gracious!

Not tired of waking up on the floor

Looking for sycophancy in politics? People like to pour scorn on the Congress for it, and rightly so. But it’s rampant elsewhere too.
For example, look no further than my ancestral state, Tamil Nadu. In the past, tiny-minded politicians there have tattooed “JJ” on themselves 47 times, or dug “J” shaped pools all over the [...]

Strove hard for stephanie

Smaller town newspapers, I love ‘em! One supplement of one issue of one such, and there’s plenty to enjoy. Check it out (The Hitavada, Nagpur, March 22):
Headline reads: Akola MC betters of encroachers, fences land for parking scheme.
MC means Municipal Corporation. Apart from that, one week later I am still trying to fathom what [...]

Long playing records

Somewhere in Mangalore, as I write this and as you read this (if you read this before March 30 or so), a professor of applied botany is trying to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. And I suggest you find your way there right away to bear witness. Indeed: according to a PTI report [...]

Those migrants again

A week ago, DNA’s Sunday headline read: “Rapes show city’s loss of character”. The article seems to have been prompted by the recent Abhijit Kasliwal case, where a this son of a wealthy industrial family is accused of assaulting and raping a 52-year-old woman late one night.
“Is Mumbai going the Delhi way?” asks the [...]

The ku-ku and the teel teel

A few notes from a recent trip.
***
At Dadar station, we wait to catch our train to Nagpur that starts from VT. Indicators are strung out along the platform to tell us where each coach will be. Except from the 13th coach onwards, where it seems they ran out of whatever it is they need [...]

Foreigners in the closet

Why would I want to tell you about an “Anglo-Indian Bushless Toilet Seat Cover”? And what does that “Bushless” mean?
Well, it went like this. Turned up at a beautiful tiger sanctuary a few days ago. We had written to them about accommodation, and sent in our payment in full, and it had been a long [...]

But the debts

My Monday column for MidDay is here.
(Note: I didn’t call it Blood on our hands. My title was Not the Deaths, but the Debts).
Your thoughts welcome.

Romancing the road

Third, and final, instalment of the series Veeresh Malik and I did on our road trip to Jaisalmer and back appeared in the Hindustan Times on Wednesday March 22nd. You are ordered to read it by clicking on this link.
Your comments are welcome.
OK, OK, it’s not an order.
It’s a command.
***
Postscript: The link above doesn’t [...]

Wankhe-Day

At the Wankhede to watch Day 3 of Test 3 between England and India, and the first impression I have on entering the surroundings of the stadium is not crowds or roars over fours or snacks … it is the powerful smell of urine. I realize the pressure on toilets at a place like this, [...]