Newerways

Holiday Reading was a wonderful concept in my children’s school. They were given a book to read in English and Hindi during summer vacations, and then their understanding was tested, and later prizes were showered during the annual function, which again were books. These books were classics, and a few were even contemporary; I, too, got to read new kinds of literature with them. The curriculum in ICSE and ISC when I studied was relentless. There was A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Richard the Second, and Mayor of Casterbridge in successive years. I reminisced to my boys. They seemed to find it incredibly amusing that their mother performed poorly in the subject. To add salt to my injury, my grandfather even shared a school report card that stated “Needs to work hard in English” and a grade of 4, marked in red, describing the inevitable. This report card remains the only family heirloom of my academic record, despite being in tatters now. There’s a silver lining t...

      What a wonderful sight! Migratory birds are descending over the Ana Sagar Lake. These migratory creatures travel across the globe along the flyways. They are an annual attraction for the birders and the non-birders. The majestic beauty of these birds gliding on the water's surface, their winged formations, and synchronized flights continue to mesmerize us year after year. As we walked along the circular pathway, we could see people tossing wheat puffs high up in the air, and these birds swooping down to catch the feed. A few even kept it on their palms while the birds made a sweep for it. These birds dared to fly over the walkway in numbers, performing acrobatics to indulge us right above our heads. As I spoke to my younger son, who had been working from home since the COVID lockdown, I found out that he had intended to visit Goa with his friends and work from there. A few of his friends had migrated to beautiful destinations far away from their homes for similar pu...