And so now the Pope is wrong because he is calling for peace and trying to save lives. He advised Ukraine to show the “white flag”, which other than meaning surrender is also a symbol of peace.
You have all been invited for “daal-bhaat to a gorib’s house” by (surprise, surprise) a well-to-do host. Obviously, he is far from being poor. Or else, he would not have invited you.
The present landlords have been living on their land, happily, merrily, for eons with their elders and children.
There is a reason why you do not see me singing on television.
Relaxing on the deck of his 50-metre yacht, off the Grand Resort Lagonissi in Athens, a quadrillionaire was sipping on his orange juice before a late breakfast. It was spiked with a dash of lemon and fresh mint sprigs.
Grenfel Tower in London was entrapped in the myth that a single staircase under mechanically-induced positive air pressure was safe for a 24-storey block of apartments.
The world is grieving for Pelé, one of its most gifted sons, who won the universe with his football skills.
In the days leading up to the greatest show on earth, miserably apt was the Bangla saying, "Jare dekhte nari, tar cholon banka."
Occasionally an athlete transcends the boundaries of his sporting arena and attains a civil personality through his many socio-welfare activities, albeit woven intricately with the game.
What I am about to write will be of no use, least of all any consolation, to the family and friends, and yes admirers, of the flicker that was denied to sparkle. Because they cannot bring her back to conquer mountains with a smile, to pedal a bicycle to her heart’s delight, or convey knowledge to her students with care.
Contextually, although lockdown remains an essential defence worldwide against the spread of Covid-19, there have been exceptions at the cost of human lives.
Mass movements are characterised by a euphoric tempo. Thus, it was understandable when on June 7 “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) demonstrators in Bristol brought down and defaced the statue that commemorated 17th Century slave trader Edward Colston. Perplexing though was the inclusion of the statue of Baden-Powell, the founder of the worldwide Scout Movement, in their “Topple the Racists” list of sixty statues.
At five feet four, most people’s mouth is where my nose is. In a democracy, they can do all the loud talking at a distance from me, but their flurry of drenched words requires my close proximity. My nose is again of the type that inspires free speech, supplemented with coughs and sneezes.
Trending now are a winter holding at around twenty degrees Celsius, finishing office work in a traffic jam, private fogging to rid societies of mosquitoes (members of the Executive Committee not included), and a side job or business not only to make ends meet but for a wee bit of luxury, such as eating out.
Election time is full of promises. Wowed by the vows, some of us are the happiest. Many of us are steeply sceptical; we suffer the most. Most of us believe the rhetoric, or pretend to, otherwise candidates would not have been spewing material for us to build castles in the air, election after election.
The following anecdote I have narrated before, but it merits repetition for sheer context.
As we draw closer to pulling the curtain on 2019, it is an opportune moment for self-analysing ourselves.
My earliest encou-nter with the razzmatazz colour, discounting my childhood chushni (more about that later) was due to my kindergarten schooling at Comilla’s Our Lady of Fatima Convent.
