yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

During the last month ( October, 2026 ), in Bookworm’s Reading Circle, we discussed Dr Sylvia Karpagam’s The Meat of The Matter: How the Politics of Food Shapes Our Health . The book highlights the politics behind food - how caste dominates food, how government influences what comes to our plate, how science and business join hands to decide our diet, and how amidst all these, it is the have-nots who suffer the most. It gets into the well-known irony of India being referred to as a vegetarian country when 3/4ths of the population consumes meat and also into the lesser-known nuances - like how demolition in an urban area can derail the nutrition intake of the affected families for days. It also does not shy away from talking about horrendous actions like that of humans beating other fellow humans for eating a particular meat, beef in this case.  I am glad I read the book, was a part of the Reading Circle, and that Bookworm lent a physical copy of the book. However, the book - and t...

Why India's children need safer roads to reach their classrooms Thanks to the team at Deccan Herald . The Supreme Court recently declared the right to walk on safe footpaths a fundamental right and urged the government to bring a law that declared this right and recognized the duty of municipal authorities and local bodies to build, demarcate, and maintain necessary pedestrian infrastructure. It passed this landmark judgment in a motor-accident claim case related to the death of a 5-year-old boy, who met with an accident while walking to school.  This was not an isolated incident.  Data shows that many children walk or cycle to school -  The NSO’s 2020 data showed that 60% of India’s children walk to school. ( 12 to 15 crore children walk to school each morning ) Delhi - A 2026 report by the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Centre at IIT Delhi, highlighted that 51% of the children walk or cycle to school.   And, recent news-reports remind us that...

These are 2 of the most endearing videos I have seen on YouTube in a long, long time. The sheer beauty of these videos had me watch these again, and again, in silence. These are from Lahore's Sur Taal Academy.  I then sent these to a friend who said this is how morning assemblies at school can be. This line of his left me wondering - why cannot these be THE school itself? They have so much we (children and adults ~ ) can learn from - Music and poetry of course we learn when we engage with these songs. But there is a lot more - we learn to be a part of a team, to wait for our turn, to observe our teacher, to sing about Mandir and Masjid in the same breath literally, to engage with the classics and such. If our intentions are clear and we get the basics correct there is little that we need in terms of paraphernalia - be it fancy equipment, or clothes or lighting. Nusrat Saab  has left such a legacy. All we need to do is to respect it, and learn from it. And, this group is doing ...

Pickle-ball, golf and the new divide: Sport was once a shared experience, it's now a purchased service. Team at Deccan Herald - Thank you. Pickle-ball - a racquet sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis - began in the US during the 1960’s but was introduced in India only during the 2000’s. Its popularity, however, rose during COVID, and today pickle-ball courts are mushrooming in our cities and towns. With over 500 courts, Amadavad has emerged as the pickle-ball capital of our country. I asked a friend, who often plays pickle-ball, why the sport is so popular. The main reason, he responded, is that the sport is not demanding: the court is smaller than a tennis court, it requires less energy than badminton, age and gender are not barriers, and it is easy to learn. On top of these, it gives players the feeling of having played a serious sport. He suggested that I observe the pickle-ball set-up not far from where I live, a set-up fairly representative of th...

Celebration and Prayer: Life and Light in Raza's Art Ashok Vajpeyi Speaking Tiger  184 pages  Sometimes a book finds you all of a sudden, and as if calls you. You pick it up, and as you read you are both surprised and happy. It reminds you that books and whim go well together, and that you are at the right place.  I was at Arthshila's library then and am now keen to revisit, especially to meet the book again. I had not begun a new book for some days now despite more than a few unread lined up at home, but this was special.  This book , with a few unfinished sentences and some blank pages, I could not complete then. But it touched me in a manner that many books which I have completed did not.  This book talks of Raza's journey from a small hamlet in Central India, the teacher who introduced him to the Bindu, to France and to finally returning to India and painting daily in his 90s.  Sample a few lines -  All the world is produced by touch.  ...

Title:  Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train Author:  Monisha Rajesh Publisher: Bloomsbury Pages: 326 ISBN: 9781-5266 -4418-3 MRP: 699/- Thanks to  Deccan Herald In this book, Monisha Rajesh takes different trains, mostly in Europe, that move during the night, meets friends and strangers, soaks in the views, enjoys food, visits places, shares what is in her mind and takes us along. I had read her ‘ Around India in 80 Trains ’ around the time it had come out, about a decade and half ago, and I must confess that I enjoyed this journey with her far more. As I travelled with her again, I discovered areas of common interest, one after the other, be it soaking in silences or darkness, keenness to slow down or invest time with self, concern for the earth and people, meditation, engaging with interesting people, and of course trains and travel. She writes about trains which boast of carriages that get on to a ferry or those which can carry cars, have fridges and pla...

The real problem with history education is bigger than textbook revisions. Thanks to the team at Deccan Herald . This week NCERT has released the new Social Science textbook for Grade 9 - Understanding Society: India and Beyond Part 2. As with the previous ‘new’ textbooks, some of us have been complaining about a few topics that have found their way into the textbook and a few that have been shown the door. Syllabus changes dictated by those in power are a matter of concern and warrant deliberation. But, is this the only concern with our textbooks? Let us look at a few questions. How important are textbooks in today’s time? Textbooks, today, are just one of the many sources children have to build their knowledge and understanding of a topic. Our fetish for marks and ranks, has fuelled the popularity of guides and exam-keys, and as a corollary rendered textbooks - and the pedagogy envisaged while designing them - virtually ineffective. A few years ago I had pitched an article on ‘errors...