I did not realise the importance of a ninety-second pause till I met Stephen on a Friday morning in Bangalore. He came to our office to coach executives in our office. My manager could not attend the session and delegated the task to me. I was very fortunate to participate…

People often say, “knowledge is power.” But what happens when we all have different levels of knowledge? My uncle Murthy turned 94 recently. He is always dressed up neat with formal wear and a golf hat. He remains dapper commanding attention wherever he goes. His kind face and warm personality…

Boss, Godbole, the office clerk and buxom Anglo-Indian Secretary Miss. Fonseca. I loved the pocket cartoons of Mario Miranda in The Economic Times. These characters always appear vividly in front of me though I have not met Mr Miranda. In a particular strip, Godbole tells Fonseca — I am not…

When I was in engineering college, a few of my friends got together one sultry evening and decided to head to Uppada beach. This brilliant idea came from my roommate. He was a local guy, and we assumed he must be familiar with the location. Without batting an eyelid, I…

My mom hailed from a small village near Bangalore and lived all her life in a neighbouring state, Andhra Pradesh. The language was different, people were other, and so were the cultures. I am sure she had aspirations and a portrait of her future life when she married a teacher…

I had an excellent talent for participating in and winning the quizzes. I was good at historical dates, geography, science, math and current affairs. I had all the trivia on my tips, and the answers came out to me as bullets when the question came out of the quiz master…

Poetry is not my cup of tea. I realised this fact early in my life. When I was growing up, I loved regional poetry. Learning to read and write in Telugu at home and school, I read prevalent Telugu poetry. My first exposure was to the poetry of Yogi Vemana…

Guntakal has been a six-point junction and divisional headquarters since 1953 and is one of the most profitable divisions in Indian Railways. It has lines to Mumbai, Vasco da Gama, Hyderabad, Howrah, Bangalore, and Chennai. Trains from east to west and north to south cross here. The station is bustling…

Everyone knows him as DGK. I am sure many would not know his complete name. You find him sitting in a chair on the patio of his house in deep thought. While thinking, he strokes his right hand over hair strands on the head as if smoothing them from habit and…