December has become the present. Just as November is the early present. The day after Halloween, stores change from orange and black to red and green, from the scary and gloomy to the bright and festive. Drivers become shoppers and shoppers forget parking skills. Good people become bad tempered louts. The spirit of…
And that's what it should be, the greeting. Not 'Happy Holidays', but 'Merry Christmas' for the reason for the holiday is Christmas. Lest I begin to sound like the PeevedPunjabi, let me hasten to wish all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you are able to enjoy a warm and cozy Christmas with…
Science fairs for high schoolers were an annual affair. A large area with a perimeter of school stalls showing off hand-made experiments with charts on the walls, manned by eager young scientists, also contained a refreshment area. It was great place to meet students from other schools. I stood there chatting with a…
The other day I was pissed off at a comment I read on another blog (not mine). The commenter felt the author was either showing off or writing for personal satisfaction, because it was not fit for the common man. He chose to remain "Anonymous" which tells us everything we need to know…
Ashok found Meena fascinating. She, Meena, liked Jethro Tull. Ashok’s tastes were more Donna Summer’s gasping, moaning, sex-drenched disco. But Meena was friendly, liked Ashok’s company and a movie or two together ensued. One day, I was asked if I wanted to accompany them, in my usual role of chaperone for the Other…
In the early summer of the following year (following the on-time, on-budget arrival of Baby #1, (chronicled in this post) financial conditions hadn't really improved. A meager income was being gleaned by teaching. My wife and I took up part-time lectureships at various schools that were mushrooming everywhere. Schools that gave out diplomas…
So this is it then. The end of civilization as we know it. The thin edge of the wedge. The most unkindest cut of all. Remember that song we used to play, Sam? It's almost over. The end of the world is nigh. There was a time when I lived in Calcutta (Kolkata,…
Schools, good ones, were hard to come by in Calcutta. Boys had a choice of St. Xavier's, La Martiniere for Boys, the recently rejuvenated and rising fast in the ranking St. James and my own school, Don Boso Park Circus, DBPC for short. Admissions were competitive and parents stressed over the best ways…
Things went back to normal after An Inauspicious Start. Of course, normal was the new normal which wasn't quite the same normal as the previous normal. Progressing pregnancy dulled the pain of financial doom. Sometime in the 3rd month we had signed up for a 5-day package at Woodlands Nursing Home in Alipore.…
The Slo-Man has decided not to decide whether it is he or them. He is inclined to believe it is them. He is aware that they probably think it is he. Maybe we should step back just a bit and explore this curious state of affairs. First of all, we already know the…