THE TESTS OF A SHORT JOURNEY

Catering on Shatabdi: Bangalore to Chennai It is the story that matters not just the ending. ~ Paul Lockhart ~ (A Mathematician’s Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating [...]

The Amarnath Expedition As the evening of life sets in, one must periodically clear out the clutter — discard the nonessentials, as it were. On one such mission of ruthless condemnation, I found [...]

Film Review I am inherently sceptic about Indian war movies, for their lack of realism and overdose of jingoism and misplaced melodrama. Therefore, when a friend recommended insistently that I [...]

Reminiscence of an Eventful Journey When you joined the military, you joined the largest family in the country. ~ Unknown After the summer vacations of 1958, we returned to the College at [...]

Tale of a Train Journey I made up my mind not to care so much about the destination, and simply enjoy the journey. ~ David Archuleta ~ (Chords of Strength: A Memoir of Soul, Song and the Power of [...]

A Fauji’s Dilemma The note was terse, “Please come to the admin block and pacify the workers – We need your help. Tom.” Scribbled on office stationery, it was delivered to me by the company [...]

A Swimming Gala and A Dancing Encounter Punjab is awfully hot in summer. A poolside evening party therefore, sounded a splendid idea. The large swimming pool in Patiala where it was being held [...]

In High Places Yet another memory—over half a century old—resurrected from an unassuming negative film roll. A rare experience, indeed! The first and last opportunity for a Pongo (Poor Bloody [...]

A Temple in the Land of Konyaks Back in 1980, I found myself thrust into the world of staff duties at a charming hill station in Nagaland called Chakabama. My first staff posting — ah, the joy! A [...]

On the Wings of Fancy Over half a century may have passed, but I can still feel the burn in my calves from that final, brutal ascent—four days of slugging through leech-infested, [...]