It is a source of much bemusement to my friends that although I can sit in one position for hours, reading - and the only parts of my body that move in that circumstance are my eyelids, to blink - I cannot sit in a movie theatre for two hours without fidgeting non-stop and wishing the stupid thing would end fast so I can get up and leave. Read more

When I was on leave, I treated my phone in the most cavalier manner. Mostly, it was in my bag and my bag was in my cupboard. I checked messages and missed calls only when I felt like it - and mostly I did not feel like it at all.

I also ignored the computer almost completely. Read more

Still a week to go before I actually go on leave, but I am in holiday mood.

Very difficult to concentrate on work, but I shall manage, I think. On the other hand, this period of enforced work focus will be followed by two weeks of NO work, hooray, so I guess I can spend the next six days gazing earnestly at my computer in the light of the reward that will follow. Read more

Some time in the 1300s, Robert the Bruce claimed the throne of Scotland and fought the English for it. He lost a battle, became an outlaw and almost gave up his claim to the throne, when something happened that impelled him to continue the fight. Read more

That was what I thought as I trundled down the highway in an auto, headed home late-ish on Sunday night after three days of doing absolutely nothing but reading and having a massage or two in beautiful, lush green Kerala. (It is SERIOUSLY a site for sore eyes, why on earth have I never been there before?) Read more

cur mudg eon

- noun

a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.

related forms:

cur mudg eon ly, adjective

synonyms:

grouch, crank, bear, sourpuss, crosspatch

- Dictionary.com

Finally, at the overripe age of nearly 40, I’ve discovered my life’s ambition. Read more

If ever you want to listen to a collective howl of irritation and outrage, walk into our Bombay office at about 4.30-5 every afternoon and you’ll hear it. Every afternoon at around 4.30-5, some kind soul spams at least half the people here with an email titled Happy and Peaceful Life. Read more

There was a report on Tuesday in The Times of India - yes, the rival paper - about how the recent very high tides in Bombay flung ashore 640 tons of garbage.

Deep in the story, there was a quote from someone about how as a people, we are not sensitized to the problem of garbage disposal. Read more

As is my wont (hooray! I’ve always wanted to use this phrase, and now I have. Isn’t it delightfully pompous?), the first thing I did when I got to the office this morning was check my mail – and read all my favourite blogs. Read more

Just out of curiosity. Suppose you required a root canal. Or a filling in a tooth. Or just a dental check up. Would you go to a regular dentist? Or to one who, aside from offering dental services, also offered you a Thai foot massage complete with herbal oils, music and ambience before she or he got going with the drill?

I ask because I recently received a press release from a new dental service, just launched in Mumbai, that offers reflexology as well as the drill. And I thought I’d heard it all! Read more