Reflections
40. Books in the Boondocks...
I’ve been associated with the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, almost four decades – first as a book lover, a reader and then as a member of its Managing Committee. For more than 12 years I was a...
39. The Political Cynicism of Benjamin Netanyahu
I strongly believe that the October 7 massacre, when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern part of Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping some 240 to Gaza, was a terro...
38. most of the religions of the world have been impartial to women
Despite its strategic location and rich mineral deposits, Afghanistan is a cursed place. As it sits where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, it is prone to powerful earthquakes. ...
37. let us make a crying child laugh
During the Covid period I made it a point to record all the useful and not very useful news in my diary – news gathered from online newspapers, TV, websites and twitter. Now I’m in the process of...
36. GOD is a product of human weaknesses
Contrary to the common belief that it was Albert Einstein who was involved with producing the world's first atomic bomb, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and Army Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves actually did th...
35. “those whom the Gods hate, they make teachers”
William Lyon Phelps has rightly said ‘at a certain age some people’s minds close up: They live on their intellectual fat’. It’s not a serious matter. What is serious is – Nothing is worse than a...
34. My Tree
The Portuguese writer Jose Saramago, in his book “Small Memories, A Memoir,” describes his father late in life going from tree to tree in his garden, embracing their trunks and saying goodbye to them,...
33. Mass Deportation, Marketed as Development
So, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been successful in convincing Trump that ‘Gaza is for sale, come gab it!’ forgetting that Gaza is part of the greater Palestinian homeland.Or was it...
32. Let not the history repeat itself
We have been taught that Russia (the Soviet Union, under Stalin) in World War II was on the side of those who saved the world and ended the war.But not to forget the fact that it was also the country...
31. Just imagine a religion-less world!
First Russians came, then Americans and now Taliban. It was war, then terror and starvation. In Afghanistan, people have been suffering for decades. The situation in the country deteriorated drastical...
30. Remembering Renu Saluja
Exactly I don’t remember the year but I suppose it was 1984 or 1985 when I first met Renu Saluja (1952 – 2000). Those days I was posted in Pune and had a good friend whose father was in the security d...
29. I’m not an addict; it’s just a habit
India is a false democracy, that’s what I strongly believe. The freedom, the democracy has accorded, is still misunderstood. Barring two political parties – Bhartiya Janata Party and the tw...