The Endearing and Enduring World
of R.K. Narayan by Swapna Dutta 
Born on October 10, 1906 in Madras, now known as Chennai, R. K. Narayan (Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Narayanaswami) is considered to be one of the greatest among Indo-English writers. His father, Venkatarama Krishnaswami Iyer, was a provincial headmaster. R. K. Narayan was his third son. He was brought up by his grandmother and an uncle because his mother was very ill after he was born. His grandmother inspired in young Narayan a passion for language and for people. He attended the Christian Mission School in Madras, among others. He graduated from Maharaja's College in Mysore in 1930. Read On

Bhim Singh's Plane Ride
by Debashish Majumdar 
Bhim Singh lived in a garage with his loving wife Parvati and sons Laltu and Paltu. Bhim Singh had a small grocery shop of his own. He was very popular in his neighborhood. One day a new product arrived at Bhim Singh’s doorstep. Read On

Doggiemania
by Deepa Agarwal  
“Bow-wow! Bow-wow!” “Oh, shut up!” Nidhi cried. But--“Bow-wow! Bow-wow!” “Okay, okay, doggie!” She pretended to pet the (make believe) dog, her younger sister, six-year-old Pallavi. It was the only way to make her stop. “Ouch!” Ankur yelped. Their brother and the middle child, he thought he’d be strong minded and ignore the doggie but she retaliated by taking a sharp nip at his leg. “Hey, that hurts.” “Bhow-bhow-bhow!” Read On

Swami and Friends
a review by Swapna Dutta
Swami and Friends is the simple and charming story set in the 1930s of ten-year old Swaminathan and his experience of growing up in Malgudi, a town created by R.K. Narayan. Swami lives in a world of “bossy adults”- parents and teachers – as well as his friends in school. Pleasing his demanding peers as well as the adults is a tough job indeed. But Swami tries to manage it to the best of his ability. Swami is impulsive, mischievous and innocent. And he has a very warm heart. Through his eyes we get to see a complete picture of South India during the pre-Independent era. Read On

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 The Coming of Nadir Shah
by Swapna Dutta 
Nadir shah defeated the Indian troops at Karnal on February 24, 1739 and sent his men along to capture Delhi. Haji Faulad Khan who was the kotwal of the city refused to let him in at first. But Lutfullah Khan, the governor, was compelled to open the gates when he saw the letter written by Mohammad Shah, in which he surrendered to the invader. So there was nothing to do but to hand over the keys of the fortress, the treasury and the store houses to Nadir Shah’s men. Read On

A Father and A Patriot
by Ramendra Kumar 
Abba, how come Nanaji does Puja while Ammi and you perform Namaaz?" eight year old Muskaan asked her father Imtiaz Hussain. They were sitting in the balcony of their flat on a Sunday morning munching groundnuts - the year was 2023. Read On

The Pain of Not Giving
by Shernaz Wadia
Long back I had written here about The Joy of Giving. Today we are going to read a short account about the pain of not giving. Those who find joy in giving also feel profoundly the pain of not giving. The incident happened more than five decades ago. Read On

Irresistible, Charming And Priceless
by Ramendra Kumar 
‘A book that is titled “On the Tip of a Pin was ... ” has to be different, if not anything else,’ I thought, as I picked it up. But I was wrong. Interesting would be a gross understatement - delicious, enchanting, irresistible and scrumptious would describe it better. It is tale of a town called Pintipur which is on the tip of a tiny pin. Read On

Chacha Nehru by Vijaylakshmi Nagaraj 
As the Nation celebrates Children’s Day I remember with respect the VIP with a rose. Yes, a very special person in our hearts even today Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Five decades ago, in the early sixties Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, then Prime Minister spent a few days at Shillong, during his tour of the North East. Assam was then one big state and Shillong the most beautiful hill station, was the capital. Read On

The ill-effects of Acid Rain
by Paaus Pawar 
Precipitation that has a pH of less than that of natural rainwater (which is about 5.6 due to dissolved carbon dioxide)acid rain is formed when sulphur dioxides and nitrogen oxides, as gases or fine particles in the atmosphere, combine with water vapor and precipitate as sulphuric acid or nitric acid in rain, snow, or fog. Read On