Travelling Times

“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.”   As my phone display flickers for a moment, the banner notifies the first of many messages that find their way into my Whatsapp. Neither the likes of forwarded messages nor brain-wrecking “IAS” questions. Surprisingly, it’s the roll-call of group members preparing for a weekly rendezvous at a sparsely populated ground. 6 am is never too early for the Weekenders. In the summer of 2013, I felt unfit for the first time in my entire life. I had enrolled for a 5k run and left it mid-way, huffing and puffing. Since my wedding in late 2011, I had been cruising on the path of gluttony with no barriers holding me back. My waistline seemed to enjoy this unprecedented stroke of prosperity and a youthful exuberance seemed to give way to middle-aged maturity. On one of my weekend travails supporting Arsenal, I ran into this group of passionate youngsters (well, a large majority o...

“Evolution teaches us the original purpose of language was to ritualize men's threats and curses, his spells to compel the gods; communication came later.” – Gene Wolfe This post has been on the backburner for a really long time (9 months to be precise) and is the result of a series of events triggered over time. Quite unfortunate that Mr. Mandela & Messrs Khushwant Singh lost their patience waiting for me to publish this one. And as the last few icons of my generation fade away, I can only be thankful for being part of a special timeline in the evolution of mankind. From television to telepresence, the intensity &acceptance of change has been unbelievable. In the midst of last week, my cousin sent me three text messages in the space of 60 seconds (At 160 characters, the Short message service is so long). Each message contained not more than a couple of words. And I wondered, if communication is still a premium service shackled by cost & time. On July 14, ...

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. It's been a couple of months since my last post, and there have been a few additions to our life over this period. Our Figo and my new Nokia Lumia 720 grab the headlines. With every new phone (with a different OS), the first challenge is in identifying the relevant apps. And, that's where WeChat came into my life. In our busy day-to-day lives, we miss a lot of calls from friends and relatives. We haven't moved to the voice-mail era yet (surprisingly, with our ability to ape Western cultures for anything ranging from accent to toilet paper). And most of the times, the message goes across to the other person as feigning ignorance. WeChat gives us an option to leave a voice message, and som...

“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” ― Virginia Wolf 33% reservation. 1 day in the year. When God proposed the creation of women, probably this was the best deal he offered them. And it would be injustice to deny them adulation on their special day. So here’s a tribute to the special ones in my life. “…the designation of a wife in India, of the Hindu wife, is higher and grander than that of an Empress. She is called Devi” ― Virchand Raghavji Gandhi Marriage is a convenient compromise for men. We continue to expect our laundry cleaned and ironed, hot meals served at the table (apart from the occasional breakfast in bed) and the remote control resting in our palm. Probably this is my one opportunity to thank my lovely wife, Sneha for bearing with me on all of the above. We do have our occasional disagreements, but it helps our bond grow stronger as a husband and wife. Sneha has been an integral part of my life over the last 4 years, and a p...