Writing History Through Fiction..!

The wife nearly came bouncing into my study, where I pretended to write an article while actually looking longingly at some online shopping clothes, “There’s some government officials to see you!” she said. “Oh no!” I said, “Have they come to arrest me?” “They’re not cops,” she said, “I think…

Mona’s Nose..!

A few years ago, a close friend of mine brought along a painting by a great painter. Over a century old it looked dull and listless and in certain places patchy. “Could you get those sections touched up?” asked my friend to the curator of one of the best art…

Standing by a True Friend..!

The other day someone I knew made a strange statement, “Bob,” he said, “I’m everybody’s friend! I agree with everybody!” “What if you have to make a choice in an argument?” “I won’t,” he said, “I’ll be neutral!” “Which,” I said, “Is letting down the friend who is right! A…

A No-Competition Race..!

At a talk I gave last night in South Mumbai, someone asked me at dinner what I thought of the disqualification of Rahul. I replied that I looked at democracy as a competitive race, in which the best man or woman won. “And to keep the race or democracy afloat,”…

A Church Without God..!

The old church was going to be two hundred! Walls that had never seen paint for over a decade were now scraped, rubbed, primered and painted. Doors and windows hanging on hinges for dear life were lifted, rehinged. An old architect with French beard looked at drawings and looked at…

Leaving an Alluring Model on my Bed..!

T’was this morning I opened the newspaper and found a pretty model showing her dainty self on a dozen different beds. Alluring she looked and inviting a supple body beckoned me to glance at different rooms of the hotel she was advertising for: The Arabian room, Chinese and Polynesian, French…