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Mayank Chhaya

Journalist trying to be a full-time writer

Interests: Everything and nothing.

Recent Activity

Top tech executives and scientists warn of AI’s potential to cause extinction

In a remarkable turn of events, hundreds of technology experts, academics and others have warned that Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses extinction level threat to human society on par with pandemics and nuclear war. “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI... Continue reading

Posted May 30, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Rajiv Gandhi: Re-revisiting a macabre assassination

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Among the few rewards for a print journalist is the gift of being granted a ringside view of history-making events. I have had my share which is now getting rather dated, a clear sign of... Continue reading

Posted May 21, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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बहानों, बहानों में अक्सर खूबसूरत काम हो जाया करते हैं

अव्वल तो इतने जज़्बात हैं नहीं मेरे पास. जो भी थोड़े बहुत हैं वह भी जल्दी बयान कर देता हूँ. पाकिस्तान के आला शायर मुनीर नियाज़ी की एक मशहूर रचना है जहाँ वे फरियाद और रंज करते हैं की वे... Continue reading

Posted May 14, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Teaching myself to be ambidextrous

Photo: Palashranjan Bhaumick, 1986 I am teaching myself to be ambidextrous. As a first step, I have started vacuuming with my left hand. There is a clear difference in the movement control between my right hand and left. The right... Continue reading

Posted May 11, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Some observations about Charles' coronation

King Charles III, Photo: A screenshot from BBC. As expected, watching the coronation of Charles III as king offered moments of unintended hilarity. For me the tossup was between royal horses dropping their royal manure oblivious to whose path they... Continue reading

Posted May 6, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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What hides between moments is our illusion of our existence

On the occasion of Buddh Purnima today, I yet again revisit a post which I wrote on February 25, 2017. February 25, 2017 It is time to return to the “Kshanvaad” or the philosophy of momentariness. At its center is... Continue reading

Posted May 5, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Here is to the crows

Crows are the only bird I feel which really look at us humans. Up-close a crow gives me the sense of being sized up. Let us say I feel seen by crows. Given that they are predominantly black with some... Continue reading

Posted May 3, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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#Apple ko bhi #VadaPav khana padta hai

Apple CEO Tim Cooke with Madhuri Dixit-Nene (Photo: @tim_cook) Seeing a picture of Apple CEO Tim Cook eat a Vada Pav with Madhuri Dixit I was reminded of what I used to say in the 1980s during my stint in... Continue reading

Posted Apr 18, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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So distinct and yet so disintegrative

What I like about charcoal as a medium for art is that it is at once so distinct and yet so disintegrative. One gets the feeling that the mere act of looking at it would make it fade. In the... Continue reading

Posted Apr 14, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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'May we build a unique bungalow one day, Where the whole extended family can stay'

Kundan Lal Saigal in ‘The President’ (1937) Today happens to be the 119th birth anniversary of the iconic Indian actor and singer Kundan Lal Saigal better known as K L Saigal, regarded as the first superstar of Hindi cinema (April... Continue reading

Posted Apr 11, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Here is to Salim Durrani, a cavalier batsman and lethal bowler

Salim Durrani in 'Charitra', 1973 It was as a ten-year-old that I first saw Salim Durrani play at Jamnagar. My brother Manoj and I were taken to watch a friendly game of cricket at the Jamnagar cricket stadium by our... Continue reading

Posted Apr 2, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Shruti, Smruti, Snehlata and I

My mother Snehlata. (Photo: MC) Today is Snehlata, my mother's, 92nd birth anniversary. She passed away on May 3, 2018 at 87. It was a long life that she lived as if it were a festival. She used to be... Continue reading

Posted Mar 31, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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“I am Shashi Kapoor. I am an actor."

Shashi Kapoor in Ivory-Merchant’s ‘Heat & Dust’ Today marks the 85th birth anniversary of the actor and producer Shashi Kapoor. Here is a piece I originally wrote for this blog on December 5,2017, a day after he passed away at... Continue reading

Posted Mar 18, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Dalai Lama’s thrilling and life-threatening escape from Lhasa, 64 years ago today

The 14th Dalai Lama fleeing Tibet into exile with Khampa (men from the Eastern province of Kham) bodyguards in March, 1959. (Photo/OHHDL) By Mayank Chhaya Sixty-four years ago today 24-year-old Tenzin Gyatso, better known as the 14th Dalai Lama, escaped... Continue reading

Posted Mar 17, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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The more I gather, the more it scatters

Ben Whishaw as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in Tom Tykwer’s ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” I am in the mood to repost something I had written 12 years ago about my strong olfactory sense. So here it is: July 17, 2011... Continue reading

Posted Mar 16, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Here is to the exceptionally eclectic Jhaverchand Meghani

Jhaverchand Meghani’s at his newspaper desk (Photo: www.jhaverchandmeghani.com) I had written this piece on August 28, 2016 on Jhaverchand Meghani's 120th birth anniversary. It works just as well today on his 76th death anniversary. August 28, 2016 There are those... Continue reading

Posted Mar 9, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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"In the heart of darkness, my dear, I always spread light"

Today marks the 41st death anniversary of Professor Raghupati Sahay 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri. Not that such anniversaries mean anything but as pegs go it is as good as any to hang a piece on. I had done an impromptu post about... Continue reading

Posted Mar 3, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Vinod Kumar Shukla—A man of lucid quietude

Poet, writer and essayist Vinod Kumar Shukla PEN America has announced recipients of two monumental career achievement honors, one of whom happens to be the much celebrated Hindi short story writer, novelist, poet, and essayist Vinod Kumar Shukla. I discovered... Continue reading

Posted Feb 28, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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There is no harbinger that ushers poetry

Poets would know this well. Poetic impulses are utterly unpredictable. They rise when they choose to rise. There is no harbinger that ushers poetry. It just conjures up spontaneously. An example of this happened this morning on my morning walk.... Continue reading

Posted Feb 23, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Hungry, hungry hominins ate hippos some 3 million years ago

Stone tools found at Nyayanga, Lake Victoria in Kenya (Photo courtesy: Science) Many of you might have heard of the popular toy 'Hungry Hungry Hippos' where four toy hippopotamuses eat toy marbles. It is a fun game. Well, this post... Continue reading

Posted Feb 10, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Of Quaoar and a meaningless universe

At 6.5 billion kilometers from us exists a dwarf-planet called Quaoar. The trans-Neptunian body has a radius of just 555 kilometers or a diameter of about 1110 kilometers. The dwarf-planet is part of the Kuiper Belt and is half the... Continue reading

Posted Feb 9, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Rest in Joy Funeral Home

By Mayank Chhaya I am 85 and precariously close to needing the services of my own funeral home myself. But until such time as I do, I offer it to those who indeed need them. I am a lifelong bachelor... Continue reading

Posted Jan 31, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Here is to Balkrishna Doshi, 26 August 1927 – 24 January 2023

Balkrishna Doshi There were two recurring names that embodied great architecture in my formative years—Le Corbusier and Balkrishna Doshi. Both were courtesy of my architect brother Trilochan, who first studied under and then worked with Doshi for years. In fact,... Continue reading

Posted Jan 24, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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Shehbaz Sharif's peace overture unlikely to move Narendra Modi much

Perhaps no Pakistani leader has ever said "Pakistan has learnt its lesson" in the context of the three wars with India like Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has done. That is an extraordinary comment whose motivation could stem from a combination... Continue reading

Posted Jan 19, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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In geological sense, has Earth already entered the Anthropocene Age, or the age of humans?

Professor Jan Zalasiewicz (Photo courtesy of the University of Leicester.) The following first appeared in Indica News. By Mayank Chhaya Has Earth already entered the Anthropocene Age, or the age of humans? It is more than likely that it has,... Continue reading

Posted Jan 16, 2023 at Mayank Chhaya Daily

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