A book launch is overrated. It takes a lot of energy and if you expect to put a new book into a new orbit due to just a good launch, your expectation won’t be met. It takes a few years, maybe a few decades. Despite that reality, even now after nine full length books, a … Read more
He knew what it meant to be the background. He had spent his whole life there. “Your job is to fill the background, while the artist delivers his performance,” his directors had always told him for the past thirty years. He was the rioter in the mob, the spectator in the stadium, the vendor in … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Truth: Man is not travelling from error to truth, but from truth to truth, from lower to higher truth. Love, truth, and unselfishness are not merely moral figures of speech, but they form our highest ideal, because in them lies such a manifestation of power. And what is truth? That I am … Read more
Life used to be simple. You go to a bookstore and walk wherever you want, pick up whatever you want, and buy whatever you find interesting. The same applied to music stores (are there any real music stores anymore), or cinema halls. Or to grocery stores. Or to clothes stores. And to food outlets. It … Read more
Despite being born blind, Dhritarashtra was trained along with Pandu but wasn’t able to use weapons necessary for a king. Therefore, when the time came to appoint a heir to Hastinapur, Bheeshma turned to the wisdom of Vidur the third brother, who recommended that Pandu be anointed to the post. It was no surprise to … Read more
He sat in his room at home in the dark. All alone. In solitude. The noises he heard everyday were about to start. And they did. On the dot. At the precise appointed time. The noises never started all at once. It always started with a couple of voices. Then as time progressed, it always … Read more
A friend of mine who climbed Mount Everest (yes, really!) was interviewed (many times over), and in one of the interviews was asked if he realized the enormity of his achievement. He tried to play it down saying, “I am just a normal guy. Anybody can climb Everest.” And the interviewer stopped him, and said, … Read more
In many ways, with the start of Drona’s reign as commander began a lowering a moral ethical standards in the war, not particularly because of him, but nevertheless. But Abhimanyu’s killing marked the start of the real end of morals and ethics in warfare. All that the great teacher had taught was laid to waste … Read more
Every writer has a bunch of notes to him/herself for ready reference on the craft of story writing that suits that particular writer’s style of writing. For me, it has evolved over the past few years of writing. As I started with blogging to writing articles, and then jumped to humor and slice of life … Read more