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
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
“When a piece of music is good, it gets a lot of claps,” Jigneshbhai said last weekend. At the cafe, the instrumental music of Ustad Zakir Hussain was being played. Swami and I were engrossed in listening to it. “When a piece of music is great, it gets silence,” Jigneshbhai added, and that struck us. … Read more
The End of Morals 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 … Read more
I had been told to get on Facebook when I started writing. I did. I used to have an author page where I kept posting blog posts regularly at one time. Then I was told to publish them on LinkedIn. I had never bought a book, especially fiction, after reading about it on LinkedIn. Or … Read more
The battle of virtue and envy went on for many years and Drona always found himself fighting on the side of envy, though like Bheeshma, his heart was with the carriers of virtue. Battle of Virata The first instance of fighting against his favorite pupil, Arjuna, for Drona, was in the battle of Virata when … 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
“I think Raichand is back to his shenanigans,” Swami said when we met at the café the other day. Jigneshbhai and I stayed silent. In the past, we had seen Swami suffer due to his boss Raichand’s penchant for making money by hook or by crook. “He wants me to talk to some placement consultant … Read more
I made a bunch of notes on Writing Advice by Stephen King. I like to refer to this list from time to time. Here I reproduce it for your reference and reading pleasure. Stop watching television. Instead, read as much as possible. Prepare for more failure and criticism than you think you can deal with. … Read more