Mental Excursions

Good luck, Mr. Sunak! We Indians might seem indifferent or unconcerned about many issues, yet when it comes to politics, the fact remains that we are politically a very aware nation. Most of the people on the street have definite views on who (and why) should be our prime minister in the 2024 and later elections. Why, thousands of Indians give up their regular daily chores or the day’s bread and butter to crowd in sweltering heat for political rallies during election season to show their support for these leaders. That they get a measly sum of Rs 50 to 100 with a packet of stale poori-subzi, does not put a dent on their commitment to the cause. The icing on the cake is when a person of Indian origin creeps up the ladder to be in the supreme political position in some other country. Oh boy! we simply go into a tizzy! Remember how we talked on and on about Kamala Harris, her Tamil and her dosas when she became the vice president of the US of A? Switch on your television. All the chan...

Gamblers’ Diwali Shiva and Parvati playing Chaupar : Folio from Rasmanjari Series c.1694-95, attributed to Devidasa of Nurpur. (Miniature painting, The MET) Today is Saturday, and Monday is the big Diwali celebrations night. Diwali is mega Christmas for us Indians. Like Christmas, the preparation for this festival also begins with decorating the house, preparing, cooking, and gorging on a lot of food, especially Indian sweets ( mithai ) and starts days in advance. Yes, there is crazy amount of shopping and serious exchange of gifts too. As are prayers said on the birth of Lord Jesus, for us the worship of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi (for health and prosperity throughout the year) is what gives the day its religious sanctity. Like they do to celebrate Christmas, families follow their own traditions for Diwali as well. Strangely enough, one of these is playing cards or to put it bluntly, gambling. This is done among family and friends and is generally preceded or followed by hear...

I lost my needle! Have you ever lost a needle, a stapler pin, an awl pin or for that matter anything thin, small with a pointed end which could stick into something and stay stuck and hidden for ages? This is only a simple question and has no spiritual or any other connotation. One cool afternoon during my sojourn the week before last when I picked up my embroidery after a break, the needle was not there. I looked for it in the jumble of threads and in the orderly stacks. I picked up the fabric and dusted it in the air, but there was no ‘plink’ sound of the two-inch spike of carbon steel. Now I was concerned. While travelling, I carry only one or two needles. In fact, for the sake of convenience and as a precautionary measure, even in my sewing box at home, I keep a small fixed number of needles.    I looked carefully at the table, on the chair, on the carpet,  on the wooden floor around it,  passed my hand slowly over everything, hoping something sharp would...

Famished wives make husbands thrive? This week is almost over and some of you might already be preparing for the next week. For those of you who are not very optimistic about the next seven days, there is consolation in the thought that you have a celestial body for company.   Believe me, that is none other than the moon. Yes, I am talking of the same sole satellite of our planet Earth on the land of which half a century ago, three men landed, walked around and raised the US flag. Why, one of the few flashes of childhood my memory has recorded include following a serpentine queue to look at a little piece of rock, the soil of the moon, kept in a glass case at Tagore Theatre and wondering ah, the wonders of science! The same moon to which an airlines company has even promised trips and booked some, the same moon which a poet compares his beloved’s face with and the one which you compare your bald friend’s head with. The issue is, the moon would have a hard time in the first few ...