156 items in this section. Displaying page 2 of 16
The Boy Who Could Do Nothing Right!
Do you know of anyone who stumbles on a flat stretch of road, or walks into chairs and tables all the time? I knew one such boy. His name was Tarun. I met him in the hill retreat of Shimla in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. I had gone there for a holiday some time ago. The Boy Who Could Do Nothing Right! For a nine-year-old Tarun was tall. Since he was much taller than his classmates, he would hunch his shoulders to appear smaller....
Dad and the Dog
If you happen to come across a man talking to a large, brown dog, carrying on a realtime, honest-to-god, heart-to-heart conversation, although the dog doesn’t appear to be saying very much, what would you think? Is the guy a candidate for the nut factory, has he lost what little was left of his mind, or is he just another dog owner? If he is called Mr Joshi, and his mate on the leash is called Pluto, there goes my Pop and his most precious companion....
The Greek Barber
I wonder what others think of when they hear a mention of Greece. I think of the first Olympics and I think of the poison Socrates the philosopher was forced to drink. But I want to see something different today. Athens, here I come! The Greek Barber [Illustrations by Anup Singh] My machine says we have reached the Athens of 2005 years ago (5th century BC). I stretch myself and walk out of the machine....
Aristotle can’t remain Ignorant!
The Greeks were a passionately curious lot. When Alexander the Great set off in 334 BC on the famous expedition that took him over the Hindukush into Tashkent and Kashmir, he was accompanied not only by navigators, guides and surveyors, but historians and philosophers as well. Aristotle can’t remain Ignorant! [Illustration by Shinod AP] Alexander had been taught by the philosopher Aristotle, and we are told that he ordered everyone throughout Greece and Asia who made their living by hunting, fowling, fishing, beekeeping and so on, to make sure that “Aristotle should not remain ignorant of any animal born anywhere....
Roman Holiday
Suitcase – checked. Diary – checked. I am writing my last lines before I take off in the time machine. Time machine – checked! This time it’s going to ancient Rome at the height of its empire. Only this morning I read somewhere that when in Rome, do as the Romans do. If you want to accompany me, sit in your seat, hold the mouse firmly, and whatever you do, don’t press the escape key on your keyboard....
When Grandma challenged British Rule
Whenever I go to my ancestral home in Nainital, I never forget to brush my hand across an engraved name-plate and feel the name on it. The name belongs to my great grandfather who used to work for the British Empire. For his loyalty, he was rewarded with the title of ‘Rai Saheb’. Having worked with the British for years, Rai Saheb gained in wealth and name. And everyone in the household feared him. Well, not exactly....
From Heaven To Hell
Kaz Suyeishi will never forget the quiet peace of the cloudless August morning in 1945. The 18-year-old was in the front garden of her home in Hiroshima. She was chatting with a friend, when a gleam of silver in the sky caught her attention. “It looked like an angel,” she said. “It was the most beautiful airplane. It looked like heaven and peace.” From Heaven To Hell [Image Source: Darkness of a Thousand Suns: Causes, Complexion and Consequences of the Nuclear Arms Race, by Delhi Science Forum] The plane was ‘Enola Gay’, dropping the world’s first atomic bomb, nicknamed ‘Little Boy’, over the Japanese city, on August 6....
When two Voices become One Voice of Peace
Have you ever asked your family members or friends about the images they think of when a mention is made of war? Chances are that many would think of the mushroom cloud made by the atomic bombs that were dropped by the United States over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on August 6 and August 9, 1945, during the Second World War. Bombs wiped out more than half the population of the cities, and made the survivors and future generations suffer the harmful effects of radiation, in the form of terrible diseases and illnesses....
Looking for sister in Hiroshima
August 6, 1945. The day the United States of America dropped the atomic bomb on Hirsohima city, killing more than 200,000 people. A day after which the world has never been the same, for it proved that humans’ capacity to inflict suffering on fellow human beings was infinite. A day that hundreds of thousands of survivors try to make sense of to this day, by trying to remember what happened at each moment that day, before and after the bomb fell....
Why Father's Day
Father’s Day, contrary to what many people believe, was not established in order to help greeting card manufacturers sell more cards. It began in the US about a 100 years ago when cards were not as common as they are now. It was started by Sonara Louise Smart Dodd who lived in Spokane, Washington, in 1909. Her father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was an outstanding dad. He had raised six children singehandedly after their mother died during childbirth....