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The Flower of Autumn
The days turn shorter. There is a cool mist in the early mornings. An Indian autumn is in the air. A rather untidy, nondescript tree in a corner of the garden tentatively puts forth a cluster of blooms – white stars on jaunty orange stalks. The sheuli. Others may know it as the parijat, the…
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Dangerous creatures—megafauna to microbes
Our prehistoric ancestors were brave. Small bands of them stepped out of their caves into the wilderness to hunt, armed with only wooden spears, clubs, and roughly sharpened stones. They hunted no ordinary creatures—they stalked megafauna—menacing monsters several times their size and several hundred times their weight. Dangerous beasts which could kill with a sideways…
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Planetary alignments
I wasn’t a believer. But the day dawned when the planetary alignments declared I had power to influence world peace. Had I but known earlier……As it was, my sphere of influence extended over the limited 1200 square feet of my own home. But I consoled myself—peace, like charity, must begin at home. Deeply impressed that…
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The forgotten sole
Last night I came face-to face with my forgotten sole. Yes, I’ve spelt it right. S-O-L-E. The underside of our feet. Of course it was in a dream. I can barely look at my toes (on my more flexible days), so the sole is a virtual impossibility. It’s often left for dreams to make possible…
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The agarbatti
Scenes from my childhood.… I’m sitting cross-legged in my grandmother’s puja room. Her gods sit enthroned, their faces aglow in the light of the brass oil lamp. Chants mingle with the sound of the conch shell and the tinkle of the brass bell. Offerings of fresh fruit, sweets, coconuts, betel leaves, fresh flowers are laid…
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Murphy’s law
For the favoured few who have been untouched by Murphy’s law, I shall start by stating it. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong (and at the worst possible time). And never is the law enforced with greater certainty than when you have guests at home. Your car will have an inexplicable breakdown, the…
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Flowers of war
It’s that time of the year again. The gulmohur(Delonix regia) blooms, and our sidewalk transforms into a crimson battlefield with the fallen flowers of war. Elsewhere in the world, real wars continue. Mercifully, we have left behind the days of close combat that drenched the battlefield with the blood of soldiers. Warfare is now fought…
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🗣️ 👆 🤝 😃🌹🎉 | Say it with Emojis
Never before in the history of the world have we tossed our hearts around so freely and indiscriminately. To family, friends, frenemies, school and college mates (whom we barely spoke to in college), even virtual strangers. Nor have we ever distributed roses, clinked champagne flutes, or bestowed smiles with such abandon. All in the full…
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A lost tail
We take much for granted till we lose it. Friends and loved ones, good health, the hair on our heads and….. our tails. Tails? Yes, the self-same caudal appendage that most animals besides apes and humans are endowed with. And so begins the tale of the lost tail. I can see you rolling your eyeballs…
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Household hints
I was always a sucker for household hints. Or hacks, as they call them now. A shower of crumbling neem leaves in an old tome took me back to the summer afternoons of long ago when it all began. To a battered blue cardboard file bulging with newspaper and magazine clippings which I had discovered…
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Shades of blue
Christmas season has ended and Blue Christmas has played many times over as part of the season’s playlist. Its not a particular favourite of mine. On the other hand, we all have our favourite shades of blue—for it is the world’s most popular colour and occurs in 71% of all national flags. We are inhabitants…