Archive of An Unknown

A writer friend of mine recommended me this book when I approached him for something. I quickly read the reviews online and immediately ordered the book. I finished it in just few days burning the midnight oil couple of times. It’s written by a Mumbai-based journalist, P. Sainath. What is that ‘good’ drought? I have the same question too. Even before the book came, I was dumbstruck reading the reviews. This is the first time he has ever recommended me a book. How could he be so precise in judging what could be a good read for me! He could never have recommended me a better book. Why is it so special? The book is all about places that are close to my heart. He has identified the poorest eight districts in India and talked about the problems faced by them. Ramanathapuram (Ramnad) district in Tamil Nadu is one of them. My native place is in Thoothukudi district. Ramnad is our neighboring district. What is more interesting is that our forefathers are supposed to have migrated out of Ramn...

There was a workshop for parents in Anjana's school yesterday. It was an interesting experience. Here is the summary of it (some of them are not statements made by anyone but my own interpretations): 1. It happens only in Bangalore. You won't get this kind of mix anywhere else in this country. There were parents from many different parts of the country. Interestingly most of the discussion was around languages. A lady with a typical south Indian small town look said she is a Bengali from UP and she finds the standard of Hindi education is not on par with that in UP and asked how the school is planning to address this. It's not the usual sensitive nonsense. In fact, she surprised everyone when she said she chose Kannada as the third language for her daughter and she also learnt it from her daughter over time. She spoke sensibly and said it's a real concern because when they come to board exams they will have to appear for the same Hindi papers as those from UP. The Pri...

Sometime back, I went to a private company for some document submission. The guy there said sweetly, "Sir, this shouldn't have been printed back to back. No problem. Please give me". I still asked for the policy document which said it shouldn't be printed back to back. Time to pay back... Today, I went to a government office for some work. The guy there was very angry, "Hello, you shouldn't have printed this back to back. Get it printed on separate pages and come". I said, "OK, sir" (the point is, he is not even the 'sir'), ran back to the printing shop, scolded the guy for not knowing this simple thing and printed it on separate pages and ran back to the government office. Another guy sitting in the same place now, "Hello, who asked you to print this in separate pages? You should print it back to back as per the process. If you don't know ask people", with the same artificial angry face. I said, "OK, sir"...

I have an interesting experience to share with you from my association with Cricket as a fan. I am not sure how many of you would even be able to relate to this. I used to be madly in love with the game till my college days. After that I have almost removed it completely from my life. But there is one thought that has been remaining from those days and has been helping me in my life personally every now and then, which was taught by none other than our Rahul Dravid. When things are going really really horrible in life, I am reminded of his style of batting. I just tell myself, 'Boy, this is not your over. Let it beat you. You just need to wait. It may be one more over, two more overs, few more overs or even many more overs. But don't lose your wicket. Just stay on. You will have your own time and your own over. Then you hit your boundaries." Unbelievably, this has worked wonders every time. I have waited and hit boundaries, which I wouldn't have if I had lost my wicke...