When I am reading a book I frequently escape into a daydream triggered by some interesting idea, a literary novelty or a visual image that a sentence conjures up. These tangential excursions take me outside the boundary of the trigger into some unfamiliar labyrinth, bouncing from one tangent to another... Continue reading

It seems I can never click in photography. This is in spite of my trying hard (for, it is definitely not an inborn talent) to pick it up as a hobby. Merely a passing disappointment, one would think, except my wife loves to pose for the camera. My lovely, supermodel... Continue reading

"Piglet!" declared Brij, blithely pointing at the picture of a pink-haired, pink-shirted, pink-faced Kelly Osbourne in a magazine. I was amused by the association he made between the punk pop star daughter of Ozzy and the character in Winnie-the-Pooh books. One might pooh-pooh this. "Oh, kids say the darndest things!"... Continue reading

So I visited this used book store called Bluestocking Books in Hillcrest yesterday. One of those rare, independent bookshops that have managed to survive. A small store, but with a diverse collection. They have tall shelves packed with books on gardening, philosophy, art, humor (I spotted a biography of PG... Continue reading

One wakeful night, soon after we had landed in Bangalore, these were the amplified sounds I heard after an unexpected power cut in the middle of the night suddenly stopped the ceiling fan and started Jet Lag symphony. Doppler effect in action: It starts as a distant hizz. Then the... Continue reading

The brisk-walking woman clad in sneakers and starched sari nearly collided with a gentleman jogger trying to reduce his jiggling potbelly. Both shot angry glares at me. "How dare you!" The sprightly youth doing forward bending exercises frowned upside down between his stretched legs. Children playing in the park playground... Continue reading