Reflections View More

A year after the armed forces began appointing women officers to command positions in line with the Supreme Court directives, a letter by a top Army commander flagging several functional issues involving women officers has kicked up a debate in...

Sometime in the early 1980s, we had taken cycle rickshaws while returning from a late night movie in Chandigarh’s Sector 17. When we reached Madhya Marg, the central avenue, en route to the university campus, someone called out: “Let’s have...

Walking along the banks of Falachan river deep in the Kullu valley in Himachal Pradesh on a cold winter morning, a dash of brown in the middle of the river caught my eye, just for an instant. It disappeared into...

Guru Nanak’s profound message, ‘Ek Onkar’, is simple to understand. It is the assertion of the oneness of God, which underscores the unity of all creation and reminds us of our shared existence beyond divisions of race, religion, caste, creed,...

The Nilgai is found only in the Indian subcontinent, and is the largest antelope outside of Africa

If I were asked which of the 17 homes we lived in after I was married I loved the most, I’d pick the one we had in Rouse Avenue any day. In the course of my husband’s life in the...

After a deadly fire tragically cut short the lives of more than six newborn children at a private neonatal intensive care facility in East Delhi in May, the National Neonatology Forum, a national body dedicated to neonatal care, issued a...

In the mid-1980s, we were stationed at the Binnaguri Cantonment, where my father, then a Major, was posted. Sometime in December 1987, we went on a trip to Sikkim, not very far from Binnaguri. During the three-day outing, we enjoyed...

In the pre-Independence era, Sengodan, the great-grandfather of my colleague Kayal Kanni, saved a majestic tamarind tree from doom in Kokkalai village, Salem (Tamil Nadu). The unique way this gentleman safeguarded the tree from the axe reads like a scene...

He spared no effort to further the glory of 4th Gorkha Rifles, and become a historical fiction novelist, with bestsellers like ‘Bhowani Junction’ and ‘Bugles and a Tiger’

It is still too early to tell if this was a mistake or not. A few days back, after a gap of almost 50 years, I went inside a house that we had lived in when I was a child....

Nesting is one of the most intriguing facets of a bird’s life and is, perhaps, as diversified as the creatures themselves. From a scrape in the ground lined with straw (quail) to a hole drilled into a tree (woodpecker) to...

In many ancient cultures, mythology and nature are deeply entwined. Ancient people followed what is today known as Paganism. They worshipped the elements which were strange and inexplicable to them to calm natural occurrences beyond their understanding. In Indian mythology,...

Military courier flights serve as an air bridge between the operational areas and the communication centres or administrative bases located in the hinterland for transportation of personnel and stores. The reduction in travel time also affords an opportunity to troops...

On his 150th birth anniversary, remembering Dr Sam Higginbottom of Allahabad

Immigration is now a lively topic of sociological and political discussion and at the centre of theories about voting patterns and important policy considerations. Even advanced democracies such as the US, France, Canada and Britain have identified vote banks just...

If only we could learn to listen to the voices that hesitate to speak loudly, what a great country we could be

My first meeting with Ratan Naval Tata left an abiding positive impression. It took place in Bombay in 1991, a few months after he had taken over from his illustrious predecessor, JRD Tata, as chairman of both Tata Sons and...

I have yet to come across consumers who do not have a complaint about chatbots that are being increasingly deployed by e-commerce sites to deal with customer queries and complaints. Initially, compared to the highly frustrating experience of going through...

Markhor (Capra falconeri), known for its spiralled horns, quietly roams the rugged mountains in the landscapes of Jammu and Kashmir. Known for its grace and strength, the markhor is more than just a wild goat — it’s a symbol of...

It’s been a tough ride, but the Vietnamese have gone from strength to strength

I can write this now as the person around whom this episode hinges is no more and can’t be harassed, harried, or worse. Yet, for safety’s sake, let’s not take his name and simply call him Mr X. My father,...

The biggest impediment to conservation is the conflict between humans and wild animals

GOOD SPORT: Mahavir seems unaware that even a child should have agency — and that a woman of 30, his niece Vinesh, a decorated wrestler, absolutely must

Sportspersons turn cynics when quite young, for their experience tells them that the sports administrator is venal and undependable