Rodevra Republic

When I saw this video I wondered whether all these expressions could really be attributed to Shakespeare. It turns out that many of them do appear in Shakespeare, so it’s fair to associate them with him.  But not all were necessarily invented by him. In several cases, he picked up phrases that were already around and gave them such vivid dramatic life that they stayed with us. For example, “heart of gold”  and “love is blind”  were in circulation earlier, but Shakespeare made them memorable. On the other hand, expressions like “wear my heart upon my sleeve” or “it was Greek to me” are much more clearly his. It’s also useful to remember that Shakespeare didn’t work in isolation. Two centuries earlier, Geoffrey Chaucer had already done something revolutionary—he showed that English could be a serious literary language at a time when educated writing was dominated by Latin and French. Chaucer quietly gave us many words and expressions that now feel completely natural. E...

The Hair Cut - Vida Gabor (1937 - 1999) - Hungary This painting came my way almost by chance. Someone in another group shared it, asking for general views. I looked at it without any particular intention — and yet, as the year draws to a close, it seemed to carry exactly the right note. A reminder of how, at times, meaning arrives unannounced. In Vida Gabor’s The Hair Cut, nothing of consequence appears to be happening. A boy sits still. A barber stands close, scissors held mid-air, fully absorbed in his work. Light enters quietly, touching the floor, the walls, the working hands. There is no drama, no gesture reaching beyond the moment. And yet, the scene holds attention.   There is something the painting seems to say — and call it serendipity that it has come to us at just the right time, as we stand at the threshold of a new year. If we explore what it is that holds our attention, it is the trust the painting places in the ordinary. The barber is not made heroic, nor is the...

 I wish to share a funny incident — or rather two — both involving the humble banana. Some days ago, while walking through the Sleater Road market at Grant Road, I suddenly heard a loud shout: “Eh kela!” At that, a man holding a bunch of bananas actually turned around. It took me a second to realise that he was the banana vendor, probably returning after making a delivery. What amused me was not the shout itself, but the casual way a human being had been addressed simply as kela. On the street, identities shrink to whatever one is dealing with at that moment. It reminded me of how a cyclist is often addressed as, “Eh cycle, baju ho!” This kind of street shorthand creates instant, vivid images, and I find it quite hilarious. The second incident happened today, again on Sleater Road, at a shop that sells only bananas. As I was making my purchase, a Parsi lady walked in with her son, who looked to be in his twenties. She asked for three ripe bananas and three unripe ones, and then,...

When They Shape The Heart and Mind Sometimes we are confronted with questions for which there are no ready answers. The other day my daughter asked me how it was to be a “girl’s father”. I suppose the term is in circulation, but it was new to me, and for a moment I had to understand what she was really asking. She meant how it felt to be a father of daughters, as opposed to sons. I had no immediate answer, but I promised her I would think about it and get back. So, in a quiet moment, I did. Feminine influence has been dominant in my life from the very beginning. I grew up with three elder sisters, and with my father passing away before I had crossed double digits, it was women all the way. And now, with two daughters of my own, that influence continues to shape my life. What does this translate to? First and foremost, it brings respect and a deeper understanding of their motivations, emotions, vulnerabilities, and even their apparent contradictions. What may appear illogical to others ...

Here’s a little Christmas story captured on canvas — a moment of discovery, surprise, and childhood wonder. Take a look at the painting first, and then read on... Can you guess why this boy is open-mouthed in this painting? Take a moment to look at this charming work by Norman Rockwell, the American illustrator whose scenes of everyday life became iconic. In this classic Christmas painting from 1956, a young boy makes a startling discovery involving mistaken identities and a very familiar red coat. While snooping in his parents’ bedroom, he stumbles upon the famous suit — and suddenly everything falls into place. Rockwell captures that instant of shock so vividly that it almost leaps off the page. But the true pleasure of the painting lies in its details: the worn dresser with its nicks and stains, the twine that once held the box shut, the mothballs scattered on the carpet, the open door hinting at the boy’s quiet entry, even a glimpse of the neighbour’s house outside. Only Rockwell w...

This is an addemdum to my post, "A Quiet Lesson in Class - Learnt in a night train'', of 14th December". While on my return journey, with time on hand and the mind still lingering on the six “lovely ladies”, I wasn’t expecting much by way of fresh experience. After all, good things don’t normally happen in such quick succession. But if one is observant enough, a long train journey is never short of entertainment. The rich mix of people keeps one guessing — who they are, where they come from, what they do. Their conversations, with each other or on the phone, offer small windows into their lives. Above my berth was a pleasant, accommodating lady in her mid-thirties (my guess). The previous night I assumed she was a homemaker, but next morning proved me wrong. She was fielding calls from various people and smoothly “fixing” things. At one point, when a call came in, I noticed the saved contact name on her phone — “Fitter” — which made it clear this was an official work-...

The vision of Pushpa Mitra Bhargava In my last Musing, I had shared my experience with train travel, and how it turned out to be quietly educative. That experience has, in a way, continued during my stay out of town. For the last week, I have been staying on the campus of one of India’s premier research organisations in the interdisciplinary areas of modern biology — the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology   (CCMB), which functions under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). During this period, the Annual Conference on Proteomics and Metabolomics was being held, where scientists from across the country were presenting their research. I attended a few sessions, briefly donning a borrowed  scientist’s hat, and listening in with the seriousness the setting demanded. Unlike many other professions, when it comes to the scientific community, if one carries a certain mental image of how scientists look, one is unlikely to be far off. Casual in ...

Learnt on a night train It has been a very long time since I travelled by a long-distance train involving an overnight journey. Travelling after so many years, and with a writer’s instinct, I could not help observing the things and people around. It was an AC 3-tier compartment and, call it luck or otherwise, there were only ladies in our section. They were Muslim women of different age groups, all wearing _hijab._ They were travelling together, apparently for a wedding, while their menfolk were in different compartments. Needless to say, there was endless chatter, with the younger ones being quite vocal and expressive. It was interesting to get a small peek into their lives through these animated conversations. I observed that they were a different class of women. Their language was refined — Hindi with gentle traces of Urdu — and quite pleasant to hear. There was a certain cadence, an _adaa,_ in their manner of speaking. I must mention that all of them were genuinely very fair, with ...

The following statements say more or less the same thing. Yet, something feels different. Can you guess what it is? 1. A.  “Let’s meet tomorrow, 6 p.m., at the restaurant near the office.” B : “Would you like to meet tomorrow evening? Maybe around six? We could go to that restaurant near the office, unless you prefer somewhere quieter?” 2. C:  “You should take a break. You look exhausted.” D.  “You’ve been working so hard, maybe a short break would help?” A and C sound clear, crisp, and to the point. B and D feel softer, more rounded, even caring. If you guessed that A and C are the typical male way of speaking, and B and D the female, you’re right. But this is not about who’s right or better. It’s about how the mind shapes words, and how the language of men and women often reveals the way they’re wired. Men, by nature, focus on the outcome. They want to solve, conclude, and move on. Women focus on the connection. They want to include, understand, and keep the dialogue fl...

Much has been said about the recent Indigo imbroglio—delays, miscommunication, operational lapses. But there is a deeper psychological dimension that explains why tempers flared so quickly, despite Indigo being a no-frills budget airline. Only a decade or two ago, many of us were more accustomed to long train journeys. Delays, last-minute platform changes, even cancellations were part of the experience. We prepared accordingly, built in time, and accepted the occasional disruption as part of travel, adapting to whatever came our way. Today, our collective expectations from air travel—premium or budget—have risen sharply. Over the last two decades, flying has been surrounded by imagery of comfort and exclusivity: lounges, priority lanes, curated cabin experiences, the language of “premium” and “comfort,” celebrity sightings, and the general sense of being part of a sleek, modern lifestyle. Even budget airlines cannot escape this halo. People may buy a no-frills ticket, but they still ca...

A small family moment by Lake Burley Griffin — Anthony, Jodie, and Toto, the cavoodle who ended up carrying their rings. Love often slips into our lives quietly, without ceremony — not as a sweeping force, but as a small, steady warmth. It does not ask who we are, or how busy, or how prominent. It simply arrives when the heart has space for it. And one day, it found its way into the life of Australia’s Prime Minister, and into the world of a woman who never imagined she would share her days with a national leader. Before the public knew them as a couple, there were just two people who stumbled onto a moment of connection. At a business event in Melbourne, Anthony Albanese, 62 — relaxed for once — asked the room who supported his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs. A single voice rose above the polite murmur: “Up the Rabbitohs!” That voice belonged to Jodie Haydon, 46 — self-made, confident, and grounded in a life she had built on her own. It was a fleeting moment, but it lingered. A messag...

" Die with Zero" is a new concept which encourages seniors to adopt a lifestyle which allows them to maximise their enjoyment of life - instead of the urge to earn more money than what they will be able to spend in their lifetime. Param Sandhu has only covered one aspect of Die with Zero. There are other variations of this which are far more practical.  One of them is decluterring or streamlining our affairs. At our age, it would be wise to declutter our lives, from all angles, not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. The idea is similar to the Swedish concept of death cleaning or what they call as  döstädning. I have known people who have stopped buying new stuff, apart from essential replacements.  Rather they are slowly giving things away which others may find useful. I too follow this. A term often used in this discussion is Die Empty. It encourages people to share their best work, ideas, and potential with the world before they die, so that by the e...

How a perfect circle drew me toward the dignity of imperfection. Self-Portrait with Two Circles - Rembrandt (circa 1665) I wonder how many of you remember Date, our Art teacher in school? I have a distinct memory — perhaps the only one — where someone from our class asked him to draw a circle, and he drew it perfectly in a single motion. That moment is still etched in my mind, because I had never seen such effortless precision. I think he drew a perfect horizontal line as well, with the same casual mastery. It is interesting to note that way back in the 14th century, in a famous anecdote, the Italian master Giotto was summoned by the Pope to demonstrate his artistry, and he responded by drawing a perfect circle in a single stroke. A similar story involves Apelles, court painter to Alexander the Great, and the artist Protogenes, each competing through “perfect” freehand lines. Such feats became symbols of artistic genius in those times. Well, we neither had a Pope nor an Alexander t...

From Dharavi to Bimal Roy to Tagore — the dignity that endures beyond deprivation Last week, I read an article on the redevelopment of Dharavi — a project moving ahead with almost no public consultation. The fear is simple and real: a vibrant, hardworking community that has lived there since the late 1800s may soon be pushed aside to make room for what would be a playground of the rich. Of nearly one million residents, fewer than half qualify for new homes. The rest may be moved to Deonar, near dumping grounds, or to distant salt plains — breaking a community that has held itself together for generations. Some will get nothing at all. It struck me deeply, because just a few years ago I had walked through those lanes searching for clay artisans, spending days navigating through the maze. What met me was not despair, but fierce dignity.  Every inch of space was valued. Every corner put to work. A single room doubled as home, workshop, factory, and warehouse. There was a quiet ind...

During Diwali cleaning, as I was dusting books on my old wooden revolving rack, my eyes fell upon Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot  stories — a fat volume of almost a thousand pages. Between Sherlock Holmes and Poirot, I’ve always found the latter fascinating for the way he ‘reads’ people and draws conclusions that unravel a mystery. I took the book out, meaning to read it later, and just a few days back I happened to read one of his stories, The Veiled Lady  — a perfect example of how minutely he observes his subjects. In the story, a jewel thief poses as Lady Millicent, due to marry the Duke of Southshire. She is heavily veiled and dressed to appear every inch a lady of high birth, but Poirot notices something amiss in her appearance. It was her shoes, which didn’t quite match what was expected of a woman of refined means. That simple observation was enough for him to conclude she was an impostor. It set me thinking: how did footwear — of all things — become such a marke...

Last month, while I was in the Fort area waiting for someone, I stepped into the Kitab Mahal bookstore to pass the time. I never miss a chance to visit it. It stands close to where the old Strand Book Stall once operated under T. N. Shanbhag, a place I used to frequent almost every week until it closed down in 2018. Shanbhag was one of those rare booksellers who understood his readers so well that his recommendations often felt personal. While browsing through the shelves at Kitab Mahal, I noticed a poster announcing a book launch that evening  The Brahmastra Unleashed  by IPS (Retd.) D. Sivanandhan. It’s a first-person account of how the Mumbai Police used the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to combat the underworld in the 1990s and 2000s. The discussion was to feature the author along with senior advocate Amit Desai and writer Radhakrishnan Pillai. During the conversation, Sivanandhan said something that stayed with me: “You have to live a life that is wor...

Natalie Sciver and Katherine Brunt Here are some pictures of women cricketer couples. Looking at their happy faces, I felt that there is much more than their smiles. These women have faced immense challenges — not just as female athletes in what has long been seen as a man’s sport, but also in standing up for their sexual orientation. Most of us tend to take it lightly, even joke about it, but few pause to see the inside story — how they have quietly chartered their own course with courage and dignity. That was the humble intent behind the piece: to do them some justice and save them from being misunderstood. Just wanted to make one point, that much as we tend to label majority women cricketers as lesbians and sometimes view them through a lens of idle curiosity, a closer look at some of the well-known couples shows something far more meaningful. These women have made clear their own choices and preferences, and have exercised their right to be happy. Their uninhibited happiness tells ...