Thoughts in Words

There is a misconception that once you join Army, you have no serious studies to undergo further. I am a victim of that. By the time I completed my Degree, I got fed up. Fifteen years of scholastic activity had been unbearable, except for the fact that both my School and College had vast playgrounds, which is where I spent my time. Before the 60s, Army Officers underwent promotion exams from Part A to D! By the time I joined, Part A was done away with. Later, though after I cleared it, Part C, which was an interesting practical exam, was also taken off. If one does not clear Part B and D, one does not go beyond a Capt or Major, respectively. There are other professional courses by the dozen if you are the aspiring type. "Keen Kumars", as they were described. The mandatory Promotion Exams have to be cleared by a certain number of years. So an early start is a good idea, for very few clear all the six papers of Part D in one go, what with all the operational, counter-ins...

Preamble It is imperative for any art form to have an audience. Imagine having to dance or sing to an empty auditorium. Imagine an exhibition of painting with no visitors to the gallery. Imagine performing a play with no one to watch. So it is with sports. Whatever sports. Indoor or outdoor. If there are no spectators, the performance of the players will dip, whatever may be the level. The players need applause. It is a motivator. Even getting booed has its merits. When booed, you recoup. You tend to correct yourself to minimise the errors. An empty stadium would be an anathema for the players. Same is the case with writers. They need a readership. With no one or hardly anyone to read, the writing goes downhill. A stage would come when the writer might put an end to the effort. Bouquets and brickbats are needed to go on. Both encourage to better the craft. In short, the writer, like any artist, needs feedback. Writing too is an art, as also a craft. Solitude Having said al...

I live in a vest in my home. Generally, that is. When guests arrive, I upgrade to a Tee/shirt, for their sake. Vestment has a papal connotation, but investment? That has an entirely different connotation. In the efforts in investments, I could have lost my vest, what to talk of my shirt, off my back!   Coming from a background which had nothing to do with making money, I was very ignorant about investments in financial "market". I was given a talking to about it, introduced to the share market (which I thought was illegal like satta market) and forced to buy Reliance shares when they went public, by a benevolent friend. When I refused to have anything to do with it, that kindly Officer, junior to me, said that if I didn't put the money, he would do it on my behalf. All I had to do was sign the forms. He was so gung-ho, I thought, what the hell. As per his advice, I signed some forms and my wife, worse than me in money matters, some others. Being a gentleman, I gave h...