Tales from a Travelling salesman

Next Life The fantasy of an idle mind is also one of the joys of my life. Among  various labels that I wear, one prominent one is that of being agnostic. I do not believe in an afterlife or next life. But as a blogger, nothing prevents me from fantasizing about the next life. My next life will look like nothing of this life. India does even not figure in until later.  Preference of country of my re-birth is an island of Kiribati in the Micronesian group of islands in Western pacific. Sun, sea, surf, rains, squalls will be things for me in the next birth. In boyhood, I would rather enjoy swimming, snorkeling, boating, and such rather than cricket and football that I have never understood. I am guessing I would be raised as a single child of affluent parents who can afford my higher education overseas once I am 17. This is when I move to Magdalen College, Oxford. In this life, I have missed going to the educational institute with a character. Magdalen Coll...

Reminiscing Amdavad The city of Amadavad is not just a memory for me. It is a love affair of my past. This is the first city where I burst in to like a tadpole in the rains. Hailing from a mofussil town of Jamnagar, Amadavad looked like a giant beast, pulsating with its own life and rhythm. A slice of my life was spent in this city of fine architecture, vast open spaces, love for poetry and drama, and an incredible hunger for street food. I landed in Amdavad on one cold February afternoon by a state transport bus without knowing anyone here. Until our bus reached halfway mark to the city, I was not even sure where I would spend that night. Providence helps you at the last moment thus I noticed a schoolmate who I was barely familiar with in school days. One thing led to another and that kindly soul took me to his hostel. Ungratefully, I have never connected with him and thanked him for hosting me for the first 15 days of my stay here. I know he was as broke as I was when...

Sailed ship of Hobby  I seem to be a copybook retiree. I do everything a retired person does; walking, reading, writing, snoozing, meeting people, listening to music, agonizing over my insomnia, cleaning the house, and so on. Yet, after all these mundane and dimwit things I do, I have some time on my hand.  My friends tell me that a hobby may just be what I need if I want to keep my sanity. Hobbies had no use for me when I was a young boy. I lived in a house full of rowdy boys and girls. We played all kinds of games all day and never felt bored. I lived with my aunt and not with my parents. Between her and a family servant, they shaped my destiny. So unlike other young boys, I had lots of discipline and regimen to follow. All these left no time to look at hobbies.  As a young schoolboy in a mofussil town, my exposure to the world was restricted to the district library and Gita recital class that I attended. Somewhere between these two institutions, I learned that devel...