Content 21 + Please note that it should not be treated as medical advice. By now, and so indicative of the world we live in, the coronavirus has seized the public imagination more than anything since A.I.D.S and Charles Manson. It has ‘gone viral’ in ways that YouTube never dreamed of. It is, as the concerned media loves to call it now, a … Read the rest
Content 21+ Come closer, my dear friend. Take a seat in this comfortable chair. Tell me how hard it was for you to study for eight hours per day at school, how your classmates bullied you, how you were underestimated at the university and get your €1500/month underpaid job, and why it is the reason you hate others (and those nasty immigrants, of course). I will, in turn, tell how … Read the rest
Content 18+ I can remember my undergraduate days more than a half century ago and sitting with friends until the wee hours having philosophical discussions about things like 'God'. The memory grows fuzzy, but it seems to me that we gave God at least a 50-50 chance of existing. Maybe, mixed in with the residue of an upbringing that took the reality of Heaven and Hell for granted, we were … Read the rest
Content 18+ Once there was a man, and there was a s…sorry, employee. It was something I would call an ordinary relation based on power, even though it all began with sweets and roses.
Come closer. I am going to tell you the story which lies beyond the boss-clerk relations, the story that eventually leads to life-changing events. Probably, our hero should be grateful to this man, after all. … Read the rest
Content 21+ It was my first plane ride, and the stewardesses had no choice but to be beautiful back in those days; it was part of the job. Even now, I can see the reason. It was to inspire confidence. Aviation was not as safe then as it supposedly is now. I have never looked at the statistics, but I do know — from my grandfather’s own account — that … Read the rest
Content advisory 18+ I once saw a film called "Field of Dreams" which involved a man hearing a voice in a cornfield that told him what to do -- which he did -- and what happened as a result. The idea behind it was simple but profound: how can we find the past again and correct it? Or maybe better would be to ask, "How can we HEAL the past?"… Read the rest
Content advisory 16+ Time after time, I find myself watching various talent shows – America’s Got Talent, Britain’s Got Talent, the X – factors, the Idols, the Voice and others. While seemingly quite an unfulfilling way to pass the time, I tune in every time, and, truth be told, stand in awe of their talent. How little Darci Lynn could be such an amazing ventriloquist at just 12 years of … Read the rest
Content advisory 18+ The off-the-charts hullabaloo after Helsinki (Donny and Vlad) has gotten so ridiculous that I once more feel compelled to seize my figurative pen and get to work. The problem is that the folks who most need to read what I have to say here simply won’t — because the kind of American trolls who soil cyberspace with their dim-witted posts don’t know how to absorb much beyond … Read the rest
Content advisory 18+ There is a longstanding question which asks us if we -- given the opportunity -- would prefer to know when we will die or instead linger in the perpetual (until the chopping block moment) suspense of NOT knowing. I haven't taken a survey, but it seems that most people would choose not to know. Me? Well, I'm not sure.
The pros and cons? Obviously, if we understood … Read the rest
Content advisory 14+ We encounter them every day, we see right through them as if they are invisible, walk past them silently without acknowledging their incessant calls. Yes, I am talking about the beggars on the streets of India.
We all have mixed emotions when it comes to beggars. When I was young, I was taught to be kind and giving. When I was around eight, one day I was … Read the rest
Content advisory 14+ Does this title confuse? Well, if you are an Indian, it shouldn’t. For the past few years, the Indian public has increasingly turned against professionals in the medical profession, largely at the instigation of the rabble-rousing media, whose portrayal of the so-called incompetence of Indian doctors has ignited widespread fear and hostility toward them, the very people who stand by the public in the times of need.… Read the rest
Content advisory 18+ My family and I live in High Rise No. 378 in the southern city of D. Recently, to our immense delight, we acquired a new apartment on the 256th floor, thanks to its being vacated by its owner, presumably due to some sort of psychological pathology. His family, who live in the seaport city of L., some 250 km away, engineered the sale.
Our building is the … Read the rest
Content advisory 16+ Following the ideas expressed by Eric (USA-based opinion) and Roopsa (India-based opinion),) I want to give you the Russian one)
We have a long history, and often one of dramatic self-contradiction. one example was the belief, which lasted until the 20th century, that women should hide their hair under a shawl or scarf -- because revealing it was a sure sign of a sexually-charged nature and … Read the rest
Content advisory 14+ India is a country which is unique in every aspect. It offers a plethora of choices in all areas of life and, quite purely and simply, has something for everyone.. The most fascinating thing that we offer, however -- at least in my opinion -- is food.
Indian food is celebrated all over the world as being among the most mouth-watering cuisines, exhibiting sweet to salty to … Read the rest
Content advisory 18+ There is a song called "The Boxer" by a once-famous duo (and deservedly so) in America known as Simon & Garfunkel. One line goes as follows: "... Still, a man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest." Another valuable (for me) insight is provided by William Blake: "The eye, altering, alters all" -- the beautiful language of which can be a bit confusing until … Read the rest
Content advisory 18+ Being a woman is not easy. Being a woman in India is even tougher. Invariably, you are going to be subjected to so much discrimination since birth, that it eventually becomes the norm.
Discrimination starts even before you are born. Pregnant women are made to undergo antenatal check-ups not to detect fetal abnormalities, but to find out the gender of the baby. And if it’s a girl, … Read the rest
