What gives

Pondicherry it is.I reach at six o'clock to a guest house owned by a French couple at six in the evening and am reassured to be greeted by a family with a little daughter. I have a splitting headache so I decide I want to eat a quick bite before I hit the sack. Little down the street I walk into a tibetain shop and gulp down a plate of badly made momos. The girl serves me in a traditionally sikkimese way,with that sign of respect which touches a chord. I do manage a quick walk to the beach after the lady behind the counter assures me that Pondi is safe.I understand why when I run into police cars,police bikes and personals every ten steps.The beach looks ferocious,and beautiful at night but is overcrowded to say the least.I see a few works of different handwork potraits of Rajnikant,MGR,and I don't know who.One of them is even made of paper roses. I walk briskly back to the hotel and hit  the sack. Next morning I get up early and walk to the ashram.The streets around the...

Strange to be back in the south after quite a long gap.My friend asks me ,'are you back from Dehradun?'We were together in Tamil Nadu more than a decade ago.Slightly confused I say ,'back to where?' I was born in Mangan,educated in Gangtok,graduated in Bengal,post-graduated in Tamil Nadu,worked in Satbarwa,Herbertpur,England,Herbertpur and now am ready for the next bout of adventure . Even as I reach Chennai I meet Sheba after a little over a year,her parents after a decade.Uncle says I have grown fatter. I hear Dr Manoj's familiar voice over the phone.....into CMC there is Dolly,Deepak,Beulah ,Alex,Emmanuel,Jayanti,Susheel,Shalom,Ashita,Deepak,Dr Hansdak,Judy,..then there are the Satbarwa folks...Sishir,Suman....and then more Oddanchattram...Abraham.,Meghala....and then even as Abraham dials the phone and hands the set to me I am greeted by intermittant stunned silence and giggle on the other side of the phone....seriously I,think Anand has forgotten ...

It's been a little over two months since I last scribbled a post. In the comfort of having the parent's around one's mind stops functioning and you give in to the pampering . However ,over the last few months,I have watched it all through close quarters and the technical eye ,the saga of Tehelka....and now Shashi Tharoor being beaten to the pulp ,two human institutions I had looked up to .........for their transient glimpses of brilliance.I don't denounce them ,I understand them perfectly well, as I do myself and every human being on earth,fragile ,frial, and sinful. I hold on to what is good and accept the failings. In the meantime I take great joy in small surprises that the Lord blesses us with. I had the pleasure of having dinner with a young kid yesterday. She could not be more than twenty three. I called her over with a certain sense of responsibility. The thought crossed my mind but I wasn't sure I would meet her before she left the campus. I would ...