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Meat
of the matter
Saturday,
August 9, 2008
SOME
weeks ago I wrote about vegetarianism in this column. I expressed my
aversion against depriving a creature of its life only because its
flesh tasted nice. But I also wrote that vegetarianism was against the
order of nature because just about every living being, besides
ruminants, lived off eating another, including its own kind. As I
expected I was hauled over the coals by shakaharis with
missionary zeal common to them.
Low
spirits in the winter of life
Saturday,
April 12, 2008
There
are times when my spirits
are very low. Nothing I eat or drink tastes good; no company cheers me
up—not even that of pretty girls who flock around me as I have got
too old to respond to their flirting with me. One such dreary evening
I happened to come across a couplet of my favourite poet Asadullah
Khan Ghalib written at a time when he must have been in the same mood
as I.
Memories
that haunt
Saturday,
December 15, 2007
As
soon as Jyoti Grewal’s Betrayed by the State: The Anti-Sikh pogrom
of 1984 (Penguin) landed on my table, I put aside other work and
got down to reading it. The author has impressive scholarly
credentials. She has a doctorate in history from an American
University (Stony Brook), was professor at another (Iowa) and is
currently teaching Social Behaviourial Sciences in Dubai. The subject
is of importance to me.
Astrological
falsehoods
Saturday,
September 20, 2003
SOME
weeks ago one of our leading national dailies carried the findings of
a group of scientists who examined the claims made by astrologers
about their ability to forecast future events. They scrutinised
thousands of biodatas of people born on the same day to find out
whether or not they shared same traits in common and whether people
born under the same zodiacal signs — Leo, Virgo, Scorpio, etc. had
similar temperaments as claimed by astrologers.
How
to handle compulsive talkers
Saturday, June
8, 2002
ONE
thing I look forward to in these infernally hot and dusty days is to
escape to the club bathing pool and stay in the water for one hour to
cool off for the evening. One thing which often deters me from doing
so is the presence of a retired Colonel. No sooner do I enter the
changing room, he starts talking to me. I have to extricate myself to
take a shower. He follows me into the pool and continues talking.
Travelling
in a women’s compartment
Saturday, March
2, 2002
KARTHIKA
of Penguin-Viking dropped in with a friend she introduced as Anita
Nair. "Are you a film producer?" I asked. "No,"
replied Anita, "I am a writer." "What
books have you written?" Karthika intervened, "We published
two of her novels — The Better Man and Ladies Coupe. I
sent you both but you did not take notice of either."
Vajpayee,
the poet
Saturday, January
12, 2002
I
have a soft corner for Atal Behari Vajpayee. Despite his RSS roots and
continuing association with the Sangh Parivar, I think he is a good,
if not a better Prime Minister than any we have had. He is a warm
human being. I am not so sure of his stature as a poet. Some years ago
he read out a poem he had written on his birthday following the
destruction of the Babri Masjid.
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