Most memories are like dreams — intangible, fuzzy, fleeting and subliminal. However, sometimes, they have an exceptional timelessness that causes them to resurface at the mere hint of reflection. The collective national grief at Dharmendra’s demise impels me to go down memory lane — almost six decades in time. It was a lazy Sunday in the summer holidays of 1969. I sat with a pile of Enid Blytons in the outer courtyard of our old home on Station Road in Lucknow. A strapping ca

​ A haze of smoke rises from the ghats, mingling with the aroma of tea boiling in tin kettles. I’m standing by my window, witnessing a winter morning in North Kolkata. There’s something quintessential about winters here—something that belongs only to my city, therefore, to me. My family has lived here for generations. Kolkata defines me in mysterious ways. In the following sentences, I delve on some of these mysteries openly. The first sip of cha (chai—tea leaves boiled with

Picture: Mustafa Quraishi ​I hadn’t met Sankarshan Thakur for many years but occasionally ran into him at Khan Market where I'd greet him...

Nicholas Roerich at work in Naggar. Photo courtesy: Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York) 8 June 2025. I walked towards the double-storey...

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I have been fortunate to grow up with loving parents. Not everyone I have encountered has been   as lucky. A broken marriage is rarely a...

Roop Kar​nail Singh is a free soul that seeks no social sanctions and is unrepentantly herself in this demonstrative world. Authentic and...

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I got married to Arun Bhagat when I was 19 years old, and for nearly 60 years we lived a fulfilling life together. When I lost him on my...

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​​​Tina Bedi is young at 80. She lives alone in an apartment in Delhi and describes this as is the most joyous (Anand Swarup Atma) phase...

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I had always been very close to my children and had been through hard times bringing them up alone after my husband and I separated. I...

Recently, Robin Gupta’s third book The Secret City was launched at Delhi’s Gymkhana Club. A 75 years old, young at heart, Robin, served...

What does not kill you makes you stronger. This has been particularly true in my case. I was 18 then, this was more than half a century...

By Mihir Srivastava Prem Narayan Dubey, 85 years, was a popular figure in his locality. Physically healthy for his age, he likes to go...

By Livleen Bhagat A bare envelope was delivered to my doorstep. I opened it to realise it was from Sanskriti School. This year the school...

By Sanjay Asthana We were all enjoying the rainy weekend. My sons Akshay, 24 going to be 25 soon, and Anmol, 23, their friend Jay who...