ABHA IYENGAR I have been thinking a lot more this time about the New Year and the resolutions we make. They are all about what we consider as failings, or drawbacks, we have, and how we are going to change, for the better. I wonder if we ever think about praising ourselves for the good […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR One had always thought that global war, or the somber chronicle of religious strife, was over — a case of not just an allegory agreed upon, but old hash. But history, or war, isn’t over as yet. This is because we still haven’t arrived at the magical intersection: the promised land of happiness, […]
ABHA IYENGAR Well, there it is. When the initial euphoria and passion are over, most relationships settle down into a period of contentment, acceptance and understanding. But, to reach such stage — of understanding and — contentment, a lot of adjustments are required. Two individuals have to learn to live with each other and each […]
NELRESSA MONIQUE-STALLINGS As the calendar turns to a new month, many resolutions have been put away with the rest of the already-old, New Year activities. However, for many of us, it’s still a time of new beginnings. A new beginning, a fresh outlook on spirituality and, perhaps, a course for how it will affect our […]
ABHA IYENGAR During my one of visits to Mumbai, I boarded a local train at Churchgate Railway Station. As I stepped into the train, I made sure it was the ladies’ compartment. It was unexpectedly empty, but for one young girl, whose face sported a crimson countenance. Blame it on constant exposure to the scorching, […]
VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN I remember the very first cup of Starbucks coffee I had. At Trondheim’s Værnes airport with my wife Varshita. This was sometime in 2010. This is a store under the aegis of Starbucks International formed in 1994, a few years after Starbucks Corporation was established by the takeover of Starbucks Coffee Company by […]
VENKATESH GOVINDARAJAN ‘Come on, Ragnar, Come on.’ The 8-year-old Norwegian boy, Ragnar, from Trondheim — the son of this writer’s wife’s colleague at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, used to say this to himself, when we used to play indoor games like chess or scrabble. We found it amusing at that time. His […]
ABHA IYENGAR It is important to work with trust, belief and faith. It begins with faith in yourself, and then having faith in others. This is especially important in the relationship between two partners who aim to go through life supporting and being with one another. When we commit ourselves to a relationship, we are […]
HANS-GEORG BETZ Anyone familiar with the ritual called the State of the Union is also familiar with the fact it invariably ends with the exhortation “God bless America.” Few are probably aware of the fact that the first president to utter it was none other than Richard Nixon, who “dropped the phrase during an attempt […]
MANALI CHOWDHURY A long, determined struggle led to the establishment of a culture where women, for a change, were heard and their opinions valued. This ushered in a remarkable change from certain societal paradigms, where the roles and responsibilities of a woman were preordained. A woman was constrained to performing domestic chores, bringing up children, […]