LBW

The whimsical dog walker

TCA Srinivasa Raghavan

Eight years ago, my daughter-in-law decided to get a dog. My son and she both work overseas but she wanted an Indian dog. So on one of their visits, she went to a dog shelter and picked out a puppy which, in due course, was taken to their home in Europe. But the dog could

The boorish government driver

TCA Srinivasa Raghavan

Having lived in Delhi since 1958, I have watched with increasing dismay and despondency, the growth and proliferation of not just cars but also a new species of drivers, the government drivers. These are persons who drive vehicles owned or rented by the government. They have multiplied like rabbits and pose the same level of

All that noise about branding…

TCA Srinivasa Raghavan

Even at the ripe old age of 75 amongst the many things I don’t understand is the idea of brands. Until the 1960s a brand simply meant the maker of the product. Atlas Cycles. Sunlight Soap. Usha Sewing Machine. And so on. These were just names of products, nothing more. Then in the 1970s a

Memoirs: published and unpublished

TCA Srinivasa Raghavan

Last December, as part of our annual cleanup of various things in the house, usually not my thing though, I was instructed by my wife to give away a few of my books because they were now piling up on the floor. How many, I asked. Start with the memoirs, she said. I know why,

Words World

Manga Magic

Sandhya Rao

They’re not comics, they’re a way of life. They show a way of living, according to Japanese and other fans.

It’s the voice, not the words

Sandhya Rao

Looking beyond ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’, particularly with regards to written texts. Where’s it coming from? What is it saying? Before

Fiction on fact

Sandhya Rao

May we celebrate the 100th article for Wordsworld — strange but true! — with one of my all-time favourite authors?

Who were the Jinnahs, really?

Sandhya Rao

Read about them in two books that introduce us to persons swept behind personas of history textbooks. Living, loving, breathing,

Reporting it like it is

Sandhya Rao

Integrity and objectivity appear to be deserting the media, but there is hope yet. Some fifty years ago, an Indian

Health & Fitness

A guide to manage diabetes

Gita Mathai

Diabetes is not a new disease, as frequently thought, precipitated by our present-day inactive, affluent lifestyles with an abundance of high-calorie, trans fat-laden food. It was described as early as 1550 BC in Egyptian literature and later in the 6th century BC by the Indian physicians Sushruta and Charaka. It

Asthma explained

Gita Mathai

I can’t breathe.” The words may come out jerkily and be accompanied by a paroxysmal cough, followed by a whistling sound. The nostrils may flare due to air hunger. In children, rib retractions may be clearly visible. These symptoms are typical of bronchial asthma. The severity can vary from a

Go Green

Direct impact of global warming on your health

Preeti Mehra

Grant Ennis, an environment expert from Monash University, while speaking on climate disinformation at a webinar I attended last month made a pertinent point. He said we keep using the expression “climate change,” which does not convey the real threat to our planet explicitly. Instead, he said, it would be

A sunshine-friendly way of life

Preeti Mehra

Let solar power help you negotiate the ongoing global energy crisis. The energy crisis triggered by the Iran war has set off alarm bells in many quarters, including our homes and offices. More than anything else, a war being fought some 2,800km away has forced us to realise how fragile

Summer of 2026: Make the world a cooler place

Preeti Mehra

Above normal temperatures and heatwaves are predicted. You could play an active role in mitigation efforts. There are too many warnings that summer is going to hit us badly this year. The magazine Down to Earth reports that IMD’s (India Meteorological Department) seasonal outlook for March-April-May has warned that the