There lived a powerful barber. The rulers would bow to him during haircuts and shaving. Those were the times when kings ruled the province. The acting ruler of thrown was a demon. He had all the vices. All he cared about is leisure: whoring and multiplying his wealth by putting more taxes. King could walk …
Author Archives: Atul
Moving
We talk about trust, friends, and relationships. Think about the love/crush at school/colleges. All the dreams we made together. How many of it stays to reality? We human species are a slave to our thoughts. It’s tough to move past those promises and whatnot. When you were kids, you were different: you were more innocent …
simple
I am trying to read fiction more these days. I find authors writing style my reason to read or re-read them. From RK Narayanan, Khuswant Singh, Satyajit Ray, Gorge Orwell to Ernest Hemingway. I find they are writing uber-simple in a free flow. These are some folks I enjoy reading again and again. There are …
journey
How much do we think about the past? The journey and co-passengers. I know a lot of us die with it. I also know many swear by the stories, epics. When we dwell in the past, we become miserable or happy. We don’t see what’s there to offer us in the present. The reason being …
walk
The sky had dark clouds painted over it. It could rain at any moment. But for a kid wanting to meet his grandma, how much it mattered? My grandma lived in our ancestral village by herself. It was not big of a deal to take such walks. We had no such traffic back then and, …
Appearance
It was 8 am and, mercury was at its peak, Delhi summer. I had last night’s hangover. I had met Matt during my Portland visit a couple of years back. Infrequently we were exchanging notes over email. He was in India for his Ph.D. thesis and wanted to meet me today. In 2008-2009, Gurgaon was …
hate
How can we hate someone or something so passionately that we end up hurting ourselves? I know few people who can go at any length to see few others failing. They will go at any length for the same, even if it affects them: personally, professionally, physically, or mentally. Our life on this planet is …
past
We call it past for the reason it has gone. We were part of it at some moment in our life. It can be good, bad, or mixed. There could be many reasons for it, our relationships, learning, or how we lived it. Our past gives us an experience. The enlightened ones learn from it …
accept
How long do we have to dwell in the past? How long we have to live in delusion? People move on, the relationship falters. A lot of us live in false hope. Like some supernatural ways, everything will come back to normal, like the past. As a result, they don’t move. They suck in the …
The Presidential Years, Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Mukherjee wrote his memoir in a book title: The Presidential Years. I would say it is his diary entry during his presidential years. He has written on all aspects during his tenure. I was surprised knowing that the note-ban announced by Modi was not known to him. Also, the fact that note ban, GST …