How I met my books

The Little Clay Cart Some of the interesting books I have read are associated with their own interesting stories about how I came across the books or, in what circumstances I read the books. While helping my father-in-law arranging his home library a couple of years back I came across an Odia version of the … Continue reading How I met my books →

watchings of idle hours 11 : the art of eating mindfully

Cultures can be widely different in their values and practices. But human emotions and individual human values have the elements of universality that transcend cultural differences. When the tiny country of Japan became a world economic power post world war II, it came with its side effects. Post retirement, salary man Takeshi Kasumi finds out … Continue reading watchings of idle hours 11 : the art of eating mindfully →

watchings of idle hours #7 : in convalescence

Tourism in Bhutan, a freak accident, and the flower pots in our balcony Bhutan seems to have woken up to the reality of over-tourism without suffering the wisdom of hindsight. Its policy of charging $250 per day for foreign tourists (excluding Indian, Bangladeshi and Maldivian nationals) is a big put off for the budget adventurers. … Continue reading watchings of idle hours #7 : in convalescence →

the spy who fascinated me

(Three years back I had written this article which was later included in my book 'Jottings of Idle hours'. At the time when I wrote the article, speculations were going on regarding a female version of 007. I am tempted to share the article here again since the speculations are going to be a reality … Continue reading the spy who fascinated me →

watchings of idle hours #6 : recipes for a good life

I am back with the series after a long gap. All the posts of the series can be accessed under the tag #watchingsofidlehours Beautiful Minds vs Toned up Bodies I watched the movie - A Beautiful Mind - on Amazon Prime when 'Student of the Year - 2' had just been released. Student of the … Continue reading watchings of idle hours #6 : recipes for a good life →

the gladiators of our times

Psychologists say that at our core, we homo sapiens are still the hunter -gatherers that evolved seventy thousand years back to inherit the earth. They are still searching for direct evidence to corroborate their theories. But after watching a number of movies, documentaries, and web serieses based on the public entertainment of roman civilisation and … Continue reading the gladiators of our times →

doordarshan days

In those good old days of Doordarshan raj, I never had a fight with my wife for the remote, it being still a remote possibility when I had my first TV. Otherwise also you could not fight as there was no alternate channel to switch to. While watching the Bengali Movie Dhananjoy (with subtitles) a … Continue reading doordarshan days →

dhan ki jai: of justice and fair play

If you are monied and influential enough you go scot-free in spite of committing the most heinous crime. In India, we have got used to these kind of incidents. What is worse is - if, you are poor you may get convicted for someone else's crime. You have to be a strong believer of … Continue reading dhan ki jai: of justice and fair play →