The Mad Tibetan: Deepti Naval’s anthology of short stories
The Mad Tibetan: Stories from then and now is Deepti Naval’s debut anthology of eleven short stories which was first published in 2011. I happened to stumble over it while browsing for books on Amazon now. Rather late,…
Dantakali: The tooth-goddess in Nepal
A few kilometres from Dharan in Nepal, as you go uphill towards Bijaynagar, stands the Dantakali temple. It is a 20 minute drive from Dharan, and located at an altitude of 1572 feet above the sea level.…
The legends of the Budha Subba temple
I was visiting Dharan in Nepal for work. I tried to call home to convey the message that I had crossed the border. A Nepalese colleague chuckled: “Yes, tell them you are safe. You Indians believe that…
The Rhinos of Kaziranga
Reminded of Ogden Nash’s poem, The Rhinoceros: The Rhino is a homely beast,For human eyes he’s not a feast,But you and I will never knowWhy Nature chose to make him so.Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros,I’ll stare at…
Losing yourself
The hospital corridor is long. Sterile and sombre. Doctors wearing long insignia-adorned white coats hurry along. Medical students who are perpetually late for their lectures, scurry, mumbling good mornings to me. Patients walk slowly with their companions…
Kedarnath: The wrath of nature
In the opening scenes of Kedarnath, the camera pans the mighty Himalayas and I gasped at the landscape. Complementing the stunning visuals of the magnificent mountains was the resounding score of Amit Trivedi’s Namo namo shankara. The film…
The witch doctor
There was a buzz down the alley where we lived that summer. The last house in that colony had been rented to a new family. They were Muslim. But that’s not the reason why the adults were…
Dogs and their loyalty
My father was a dog lover. Since the time I can remember, we have always had dogs in the house. He would take very good care of them and they were equally attached to him. German shepherds,…
Finding my triggers
As the years go by, I find that my eagerness to get to the workplace is precipitously on the decline. There used to be a time when I used to be at work at 7 am, sometimes…
Super fragile egos
I am skimming through the cacophonous thread of a Whatsapp group. Everyone seems to be trying to assuage somebody’s feelings or giving long explanations. I scroll upwards to get to the genesis of this acrimonious parley of…
