Latte with Phoenix

All of us have experienced three months of Lockdown and have passed through various aspects of life never experienced before. Some were delightful, some troublesome, but all new. These can be recounted as Taking it easy in life, Redistribution of work among members of the household, Leisurely naps in the daytime, Catching up on watching movies on Netflix, Amazon etc; Catching up long pending reading of books, Realising that life can be enjoyed without going out to Malls, restaurants etc. Another aspect was Indoor Games. Of course games like Table Tennis were out of question- for which you had to go out. Simple games like Carrom board, Cards, Snakes & Ladders, Chinese Checkers, Ludo, Chess, etc were needed. The catch was that if you had the particular game board - then good, otherwise it was not available, as all stationery/ toy shops were closed in this lockdown period. My household was in the second category. After playing cards for a couple of days, we wanted varie...

The month of Jyestha/Jeth falling during early May to mid June is eagerly awaited in Lucknow as it holds a special annual event. The occasion is the special Darshan of Lord Hanuman and asking of wishes in the Hanuman Temple at Aliganj, and the accompanying mela.                       The first tuesdayof the month of Jeth has the honour of being known as Bada Mangal. The last tuesday of the month of Jyestha is known as Budhwa Mangal (it could be 4th or sometimes the 5th). The rest of the tuesdays in between do not have any special name. The darshan and occasion are specific to the two temples (old and new) at Aliganj, but with time all Hanuman Temples in Lucknow have started organising similar festivities and mela. May be it is better business sense to do so. Old Hanuman Mandir and its Diety              A brief History …. In the year 1718 Awadh Que...

The Lockdown has completed about 50 days by now. We all faced some problems  in the beginning as it was something new and we were not used to it. Gradually things sorted out and life settled into the new rhythm. Senior Citizens were rigidly told not to venture out in this period. A quick survey has revealed that Senior Citizens can be grouped into three types of living condition in this period. The First group would be those Senior citizens who already had any of their children living with them. This category hardly faced any lockdown problem as their young were with them to handle 'out of house' problems. The Second group would be of people who were living alone but acted fast and called their children from other cities whether studying or in jobs to come back home. Senior citizens living in this group had a jolly good time. There were two or three  generations living together after a long time for such a extended period. Younger children enjoyed the c...

Adjective as product naming is a topic which is being regularly discussed around the world. But it remains more of a academic discussion only.  In this entire race for more business, there is a category of manufacturers who have adopted a different rout. They have simply adopted a tactics which tries to plant in the consumer’s mind that their product is of a special class. They have simply named their product on English adjective words which give a different meaning to that product. Consumer product companies, Marketing Managers and Advertisement companies care two hoots for the discussion which tries to show that such a naming is unethical. The market is flooded with products having adjective as brand names, such as Real, Natural, Orange, Pure, Fresh and Achcha to name only a few. Take the product named “Real”. It is a brand name of a purported fruit drink. The name tries to imply that it has real fruit juice packed in it and nothing else. In reality it has ...

It’s now more than 40 days of the Corona Lockdown. This too shall pass and gradually we would to return to the earlier ‘normal’ times. Of course it would surely take some months for that to happen. With fond remembrance we would go over the Lockdown memories. I believe most people would say “It was not so bad, we enjoyed it.” Why ? All family members were at home. Children studying in other cities had come home. We got upafter a good sleep at convenient times, not at some unearthly hour to rush into the rat race. Yoga & exercise routines were set out and followed mostly by all, as there was no hurry. We had a leisurely breakfast with all family members, followed by discussion on which picture to be seen on TV. Some work was done on laptops and computers. Younger children had fun making craftwork, old cartons were cut and put to use, but soon ran out of Fevicol. Phones to kirana stores revealed that the item was very much in demand from most households...

It is now nearing one & a half month of Lockdown in this Corona Times, and a lot has been written and broadcast on TV about the horrors of Corona, safety precautions etc., etc. But there have been some splendid and refreshing advantages too. Let us look at the positive side too. First of all, within a week of the lockdown, nearly all rivers became pollution free ! Waters became clear with people being able to see several feet deep into the waters. Dolphins were sighted all over. Reason – industries closed hence no effluents, no boating etc. Delhi NCR is notorious for its air pollution, but the air quality these days became pollution free. People breathed in balmy air after several years. Himalayas from Jalandhar during lockdown Few more days afterwards with air becoming clearer and clearer, the snow capped peaks and the Himalayan Range were visible from a distance of up to 125 miles. People from as far away as Jalandhar and Saharanpur were able to see the Himalay...

We are all going through tough Corona Times in our country. It entails strict Lockdown conditions which of course are there to save our lives from infection. After the initial panic conditions of stockpiling necessary and even unnecessary items, things settled down. One case I know is of a person purchasing 15 packs of washing powder (of 1kg each) and 20 cakes of bath soap apart from sacks of rice, daal, sugar and flour. It is persons like them who create an atmosphere of hysteria. Well, there are essential items for which anxiety to some extent can be justified. Veggies, milk etc, are available in abundance; reason being various government initiatives and shut down of all restaurants, eateries and tea shops. The lockdown is continuing and the sufferers are those who have had any appliance going kaput. A fan, a light, the water pump or any kitchen appliance not working is enough to wreck your peace during this lockdown period. But you can find a solution by sleeping ...