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There’s a feeling I get… yes it’s in the air, somehow just permeating through the ether as it were, it’s a feeling of joy, of hope, of something deeper than religion or faith, a loved one coming home as it were… The significance of the rebuilding of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya to the millions of Hindus and Indians around the world is huge. Whether one is a believer or not, whether one sits on one…

An overview of the Budget 2022-23 and its desired impact Taking off from Part I where we explored the changes in the political and economic spectrum and the dynamic world we live in and how a nation and its people are inextricably tied to face the challenges in a modern world through development and fast paced, planned and defined progress and the macro vision of Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikaas, Sab…

No, not a Modi Bhakth, but a Modi ke Matwale Raahi perhaps. For those old enough to remember Hawa Mahal, the radio programme on All India Radio back in the day, the adventures of the two truckers solving mysteries as they drove through the heartland of India in their truck equipped with Modi Continental Tyres (not a sponsor!)might evoke some memories. The radio play was called Modi ke Matwaale…

Why Modi gets my Vote and not my Goat!!!

COVID 19 put paid to most travel plans throughout 2020 so when the year turned a corner we all thought so did we. A quick trip to January with the road trippin gang to Bangalore, Bandipir National Park and Coorg and a short road trip with the family from Gurgaon to Rajasthan covering from Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaipur was all we managed before the second wave hit big time and affected almost…

आगे क्या… कोविड -१९ के सामाजिक प्रभाव

दुनिया इस वक्त एक बहुत कठिन दौर से गुजर रहा है । विश्व भर में सामाजिक और आर्थिक तौर पर लगभग सारे देशों का बहुत नुक़सान हुआ है जिसकी बहुत बड़ी क़ीमत लोगों को चुकानी पड़ रही है। आर्थिक समाधान तो शायद आने वाला कल तो सुधार लेगा मगर सवाल यह है के हमारे निजी, सामाजिक और व्यापार व्यवहार में कितना बदलाव आएगा?

क्या हम जल्द इस वाक़या को भुल जाएँगे और ज़िंदगी जैसी थी वैसे ही फिर से बसर करने लगेंगे ? क्या…

Road Trippin V – Kumaon

Bhimtal- Nainital – Binsar – Jageshwar – Almora – Kausani – Rudra Falls – Bageshwar- Vijaypur – Chaukori – Thal – Munsiyari ( almost but not quite) – Patal Bhuvneshwar – Ranikhet…

September, that time of the year again. The month we usually take off on our little sojourn driving through parts of this beautiful land. We’ve been at it now since 2014 our motley bunch of four classmates from school…

At the Movies… The Lyricists

Song and Dance has been an integral part of Indian cinema since the talkies. Mainstream Hindi movies along with commercial regional cinema have effectively used music and songs cleverly weaved into the narrative either to keep the storyline moving or to convey a character’s thoughts and feelings. Pain, joy, love, challenges, victory, defeat and every other emotion possible have all been essayed…

At the movies…1975

1975 saw India enter a turbulent phase politically, socially and economically with the imposition of Emergency in June ’75 which continued for two years.

While India had come out of a war with Pakistan and helped create the nation of Bangladesh in 1971. While the political events leading up to this started way back in 1967 with efforts to control the judiciary, the student movement, the growing…

The Best Albums II- LIVE

In the first article of this series on  The Best Albums,  I talked about the best debut albums by bands or artists, which by no means was an exhaustive list but was based purely on personal preference and the influence the bands went on to have on the industry. Here’s a link to that article:- The Best Albums I- Debut We now take a look at what in my opinion are some of the best LIVE albums to…

The Best Albums I- Debut

In this series we’ll take a look at the best albums in my humble opinion and mostly off my personal CD collection. We kick of this series with the best debut albums.The debut albums featured here and in the subsequent articles are my own personal preference and everyoneI’m sure will have their own personal favourites and lists and you’re welcome to take up the thread and list out your own. While…

That Year in Music III… 1985

  Welcome to 1985! 1985 is considered by many to be one of the best if not the best year in music. The 80’s itself is a decade remembered, reminisced and talked about by music lovers and not a day goes by when someone, somewhere doesn’t hark back to the good ole 80’s. Musicians love it, budding musicians learn and play that stuff all the time and its popularity still ranks really high with…

That Year in Music II… 1972

1972 Before we trudge into 1972, there were the intervening years of ’69-’71. For those just joining us my first piece in this series titled ‘That year in Music 1969 ‘That year in Music I… 1969  begins in 1967 and explores the music world from the standpoint of The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band… The world in 1970 was trying to get its head around the fact that the Fab Four…

The first thing you see when you set up your blog and come to the blog page are the words this is your first blog post… that’s an intimidating thought alright and you wonder should you attempt a blank page just introducing yourself and what the site is all about or just go for it and get all the other ideas you have out on paper. So I chose the latter path and went and published all the road trip…

That year in Music I… 1969

Should that read 1967 perhaps? I’ve always wondered as I trudged through the liner notes of the CD’s while spinning that seminal album ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by arguably the greatest band in the world The Beatles, what were the other great cats doing when these guys were writing and recording what would become one of the greatest albums of all time and create a template for…

September! That time of the year again, when we get back on the road again… This time we had to recalibrate our trip. We were scheduled to go to the North East on a 21 day drive through Calcutta,- Siliguri-Darjeeling- Gangtok- Yumathang- Nathu laZuluk- Kalingpong- Guwahati- Jorhat- Kaziranga- Bomdilla- Tawang- and return to Guwahati but in the light of the recent floods across Assam and the…

Ladakh is a mountain desert with heights ranging from 11000 to over 18000′ feet and temperatures that can range from -30 degrees celsius in peak winter with a highest of about 25 degrees celsius in July.  The season to travel is July-September and temperatures in July can range between 7-25 degrees celsius and in September ( our preferred time) 1- 21 degrees depending on where in Ladakh one is.…