Book Review: Kinnaur – Unlikely Tales By Jogishwar Singh
A Tale Of Two Love Affairs Jogishwar Singh (IAS 1976) is the bureaucrat who literally came in from the cold- from his almost ten…
Of Probationers, Patwaris And Prophets
It’s impossible to get 10 IAS officers to agree on anything except the virtues of the Apex scale, which is why any contentious matter…
A New Year Resolution — Do Not Let The Bookstore Die
The times they are a-changing- no one makes New Year resolutions anymore, except perhaps Mr. Amit Shah and Mr. Adani. The former naturally resolves…
When A Diplomat Speaks
Before I joined the govt I thought “debriefing “ was something you indulged in with a lady on a lonely beach, a-la James Bond…
The New Tool-Kit For Your Car
I bought my first car in 1982, a second-hand FIAT, for Rs. 32000/. It was easy buying a car then: there were no NPAs…
Vaccination Ke Side Effects
My wife and I took our vaccinations on the third of this month. I was a bit apprehensive of the jab because I’d read…
Wounded Vanities And The Foot Soldiers Of Justice
The latter half of February this year has been an interesting time for our crumbling judicial architecture and a mauled Constitution. It is a…
The Fine Art Of Losing Friends
There are two certain ways to lose a friend: one, have an affair with his wife; two, start a discussion on politics. The first…
Himalayan Blunders, Tragic Ironies, Retreating Glaciers
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity, says Yuval Noah Harari in his book “21 Lessons For The 21st Century”. If anyone doubts this…
The Vaccine As Metaphor
The metaphor is a useful literary and cognitive tool; it can, in just one image, idea or phrase convey more than a historian or…