Libraries play a crucial role in enriching knowledge and shaping character. | Photo Credit: SREEJITH R. KUMAR Back in the late 1970s, our small town was proud to have a fairly large government-run public library. Nestled in one corner of our school premises, it operated from eight in the morning until eight in the evening, … Read more
Unlike the current generation, children of the 1970s were not fortunate enough to go to school wearing crisp, ironed uniform. Getting clothes pressed was beyond our means. Year after year, we would go to school with wrinkled clothes, except on national festivals. We used to await the arrival of August and January, because on Independence … Read more
When I think of stillness, I think of my grandfather sitting quietly on the old sofa. No book in hand, no conversation needed, no restless tapping of fingers. Just sitting. Watching the world move around him with a calm detachment. He was not bored. He was not lost. He was simply… there. Whole and happy … Read more
Enjoying summer vacation in the outdoors. | Photo Credit: Getty Images In our school days, we looked forward to summer vacations. Summer in most parts of Bengal is generally marked by the glowing sun with heat waves denuding trees. In the drought-prone south Bengal district of Bankura, the mercury during mid-summer very often soars even … Read more
Uttarakhand is called the hill State. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto When summers are in full bloom, the hills of Uttarakhand adorn themselves with bright rhododendron like a bride on her wedding day. These flowers are not just beautiful but delightfully tangy and refreshing, making them the perfect ingredient for mocktails and ice creams. They … Read more
People of different races and regions have different accents when they speak English. | Photo Credit: Getty Images ‘Good morning.’ No response. The teacher in me was piqued. When will they learn the English etiquette? ‘Good morning’ is a simple greeting. But ‘goodnight’ is not so simple. It cannot be used just because it is … Read more
Kurt Vonnegut | Photo Credit: AP The semicolon is dying; sadly, there are no signs of grief anywhere. Perhaps because nobody really knows what to do with the punctuation mark that is a full stop on top and a comma below. It is neither; it is both. A grammarian’s Schrodinger’s cat, existing in two states … Read more
In a blow to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), its general secretary was killed in security operations in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday. The elimination of Namballa Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, is perhaps the biggest blow to the insurgents since the death of Cherukuri Rajkumar, the then CPI (Maoist) spokesperson in 2010, also in a … Read more
