Kallola

Sunday Herald. Deccan Herald. April 24, 2011, Cover Story.   http://www.deccanherald.com/content/156070/till-death-do-us-part.html “What was your reason to get me married?”, I probed my mother as I started work on this article. While she took her moment to frame an acceptable answer, my all-knowing all-of-nine, bounded to my lap and held my face tightly in his palms. With his characteristic, infectious smile he declared, “To have ME! Simple, silly!” Kisses flew around the room. My son had, in one spontaneous moment, uttered the ultimate truth behind all creation. For a country like India, this is the perfect endorsement for family – one that has always worked. S o when this idyllic situation witnesses trends that are totally opposed to its ethos, the jolt is hard because while the ideology that is India prospers as a nation, something is going horribly wrong at the very core of its society. There was a time in all societies, all over the world, when things were quite s...

Emirates Parent Plus. January 2011 A while ago, I was reading an article on races and their traits. Some are allegedly more prone to philanthropy than others. Some have been shown to be more value-based than most. A few select come across a lot more unscrupulous than everyone else put together and hence less averse to generosity. The question that raised so many jingoistic pronouncements was, among others, a simple enquiry into why some of us, as a race, don’t give back to society. As we step into the second decade of the fairly new millennium, this question becomes pertinent to me, especially as the parent of a young child preparing to become a deciding member of the same society. Within my modest understanding of basic human psychology, I want to attempt exploring this query further. My disclaimer will remain: No individual can claim to have a complete understanding of the human mind and, hence, the ‘collective’ of minds that a race represents. Every word here on, must be seen...