We Want the Prime Minister to Clean Our Roads!

The man for everything!

The country was celebrating 50 years of its independence. A number of events were held to mark the occasion. In our college, several art, essay, speech and debate competitions were organised; I had participated in nearly all of them. In the debate competition, the speakers had to discuss and argue India’s achievements and failures, both of which were in plenty. I had spoken in favour, and still remember a major part of my speech. I had highlighted the economic, scientific and technological achievements of the country, and stressed that the responsibility for progress of the nation also lies on all citizens. Continue reading →

A Lifetime Experience: Travelling from Ahmedabad to Hyderabad by Road

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Starting from left, the fourth person is T.A. Rajesh, then Amit Misra, Harish Gadhavi, Dilip Ganguly, name not recalled, J.T. Vinchhi, A.K. Sudheer, and T.K. Sunil.

As you might be aware of, atmospheric aerosols are particulates suspended in air; their most common examples are dust, smoke, and sea salt. These tiny particles pose a big challenge to the global scientific community due to their impact on Earth’s climate. About 12 years ago, a scientific campaign was conceived as part of the ISRO Geosphere Biosphere Programme to measure the concentration of these particles over peninsular India. The experiment was participated by 7 Indian institutes. The basic plan was simple — the different research groups would start from their respective places and meet at Hyderabad, where they would compare their results. The journey had to be made by road! Continue reading →

Letter to Ahmedabad

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14 August 2002. It was on this day that I had landed in Ahmedabad. It was the first time that I had to live in a different culture. Well, not entirely different; however, you know, even the sarees are worn in a way opposite to that in U.P./Uttarakhand. The language was different, but not difficult to understand. The weather was a different type of extreme. Continue reading →

बिना टिकट (अभिव्यक्ति)

वो (साहित्य कुञ्ज)

चरित्र का प्रतिबिम्ब

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मैं आजकल बहुत संभल-संभल कर बोलता और लिखता हूँ, डर रहता है कि कहीं किसी को मेरी बात चुभ न जाए । वैसे भी कन्या राशि वालों की यही तो दुर्बलता है कि वे आलोचना बहुत करते हैं, वह भी चुभने वाली । लेकिन साथ ही मैं आपको आश्वासन देता हूँ कि यदि आप हम लोगों की आलोचना को व्यक्तिगत रूप से न लेकर सर्जनात्मक और रचनात्मक रूप से लें तो आप पाएँगे कि वे सभी टिप्पणियाँ वस्तुतः सत्य हैं और आपके हित ही में हैं । चापलूसी तो हम लोग करते नहीं, किंतु प्रेम और मैत्री उनके वास्तविक स्वरूप में ही करते हैं । एक रहस्य की बात कहूँ तो यदि आप कभी हमारी व्यक्तिगत डायरी पढें तो पाएँगे कि जितनी आलोचना हम दूसरों के विचारों और व्यवहार की करते हैं, उससे कई गुना अधिक अपनी स्वयं की करते हैं । यदि आप बाहर के इस आग के दायरे को पार कर सके, तो पाएँगे कि वास्तव में हम अत्यधिक नम्र और कोमल हृदय हैं ।

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Irom Sharmila and Human Nature

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It was deeply upsetting to read this news. Irom Sharmila had been pursuing fast for the last 16 years, for a better society for her fellow people. Here I do not debate or argue the rationales or merits of her objectives and approach; however, it suffices to say that she did identify with the problems of her people. She is an icon, and called an iron lady. After 16 long years, she gives up her fast and is released by court. She had vowed not to meet her mother unless she attains her objective, and now has nowhere to go. Her own people, whose cause she had been pursuing all these years, refused to take her in, and simply turned her away. In their opinion, she had let them down by giving up her indefinite fast. Continue reading →

Head Held Low

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So often it happens that we follow certain habits, mostly mechanically, but become aware of it only when someone else mentions it to us. And then it becomes a problem. The same thing happens while observing others’ habits. People might be doing certain things over and over again before our eyes, yet we don’t notice. However, as soon as some third person brings it to our notice, we too start noticing and then the sight becomes annoying. I know several people who end every sentence with an emphatic (and rude) ‘right?’, people biting their nails whenever they start thinking, and playing tabla when they are approaching the solution of their problem and so on. Some others tap their shoes on floor, while others rotate their chairs. Then again few people open a door with a hand but close it with a foot, few others do it the other way round.
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Don’t Tell Anybody

Brain Drain

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If you have gone to our villages, or maybe low-income homes in our cities and towns, you must have noticed the prevailing love and sweetness in most of them. Those people might not have a four wheeler, they might not be able to afford a gala dinner every other day, or they might not even wear fashionable expensive clothes, but a sort of satisfaction is there. Of course, they do have a desire for better and more, but with a satisfaction with what they already have. Continue reading →