Flux of Time

This afternoon, I went to Blossom Book House on Church Street after a gap of some months. Felt like visiting an old love, but it was an effort to rekindle the old magic. Has the book-buying experience changed? Or have my circumstances changed?  Blossom Book House, Church Street, a sanctuary once, an old love now I first discovered this bookstore about 13 years ago, in 2002, when it was a small one-room store in Brigade Gardens. When I was working as a sub-editor in a newspaper on MG Road, I'd end up at Blossom during the famed 5-6 pm 'thindi' break. Blossom was a sanctuary for me. I didn't have too much money to spend, but would end up buying a nice second-hand one for about Rs 50, and come back to the desk, in time for the post 6 pm rush. Work on the State Desk was dull and dreary sometimes, and we had to edit poorly written copies or make page after page on old systems that often hung! And the endless translations from Kannada to English. Going to Blossom bec...

The Indian Express edit page was left blank in protest against the Emergency. Photo courtesy: The Indian Express 25th June, 1975 . One of the darkest days in Indian democracy, when the Emergency was declared. Growing up, I was fed on a steady diet of anecdotes from those days.  Both my parents worked in Central government offices, so I have heard a million stories about the disciplinary action taken by authorities during the Emergency. Of office gates being closed, so people wouldn't leave before 5.30 pm etc. And stories of colleagues speaking against the government at bus-stops in hush-hush tones. Of the louder ones asked to keep the volume down. My parents recall how they'd have to take a day or half a day's leave even if they were late to work by a few minutes. They recall how union leaders would be put under suspension, and many people dismissed. Some were even demoted as part of disciplinary action. They also talk of how it was when the Emergency was lifted even...

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/Amitav-Ghosh-Calls-for-Greater-Interest-in-History/2015/06/13/article2863151.ece I greatly admire Amitav Ghosh and his 'Ibis Trilogy'. So, when a good friend and editor asked me to interview him, I jumped at the opportunity. And what a wonderful experience it turned out to be,

Every now and then, we all need to tell ourselves to be Rahul Dravids. Don't gun for glory. Get down to the basics, and do the simple things well. I have always tried to keep it simple: Keep your head down, just score the singles, keep the scoreboard ticking. This philosophy makes things easy. It is only when I act against my true motto that things tend to go wrong. A Rahul Dravid innings, the way he has conducted himself in his professional life has many lessons in there for us. In fact, 'Keep the scoreboard ticking' brings back many happy memories because it was my first ever blog. Back when no one had even heard of what a blog was. It was when I was a struggling journalist that I started to watch Dravid carefully. This was way back in 2002/03. The way he planned an innings was the way I was beginning to plan my years in the newspaper I worked for, back then. Keep it simple, and the big runs will come later, I would tell myself as I slogged on the moffusil desk, doing ni...

This is a great read. Especially on a Monday when you (at least, I) tend to lose focus. Especially when too many things are happening around you, and you are feeling overwhelmed. When you have to handle contempt and scorn. When some scenes from the past keep twirling like a dancing doll in your head. When you know you deserve better. When you need to slowly get your moorings back and stay afloat. When you need to learn equanimity. And be unmoved by high praise and vile criticism. When you should let go of people or things who are not for you. http://ideas.ted.com/want-to-be-happy-slow-down/ Excerpts from the link where Pico Iyer and Matthieu Richard have a great conversation: I think that’s why people like me, who are not part of a religious tradition, will often go on retreat to monasteries, because suddenly you can listen to everything and you’re not endlessly talking and you’re not trying to impress everybody around you, and you’re not being distracted by emails and texts …...

From Glasgow to Pattikonda: The journey of Sir Thomas Munro Sir Thomas Munro, a Glasgow-born Scotsman, who became the Governor of Madras Presidency in the early part of the 19 th century, made a deep impact on the people of the Rayalaseema region. I was reading up on the palegar (local chieftains) strife in Rayalaseema region, and read this interesting snippet: In many parts of Ananthapur and Ballari regions, Munro was so respected that the locals named their first-born son after their favourite administrator – Munrolappa (Kannada and Telugu are the local languages). I haven’t seen it, but there’s a famous statue of Sir Thomas Munro in Madras, near the Gymkhana, according to a piece in The Hindu . ( Sriram’s piece in The Hindu .) What triggered my interest in Sir Thomas Munro was that he was the Collector of Anantapur district. My ancestral village is in the same district, and many of my family members continue to live in the district. I came across a letter Sir Thoma...

Over 6,000 people have lost their lives in the Nepal earthquake, and the toll is expected to touch 10,000. When I think about it, I am at a loss for words. It is deeply saddening, and painful to see so much suffering in this world.  Nepal holds a special place in my heart. I visited that beautiful country in April 2004. It was the first time I stepped out of India; I was sent there on a 'fam' (familiarisation) trip by the newspaper I was working for then. I had never seen a snow peak till then, and remember being awestruck by the sight. What's more, the peaks were part of the mighty Himalayas. In fact, on April 25, 2004, exactly eleven years back (the day the earthquake struck in Nepal -- April 25, 2015) I was somewhere between Kathmandu and Pokhara, I think. This region is among the worst affected. The epicentre of the quake is somewhere in between these two famous tourist centres. During that trip, we went on a shortish trek near Bandipur, visited the Siddha Caves, w...