Back in 2011 the then Pope Benedict, while baptising some children, had advocated that they be given “Christian” names. He frowned upon naming children after celebrities. Recently the Syro-Malabar bishops of Kerala issued a similar edict. This has me flummoxed. What exactly is a “Christian” name? Also, what is in a name? No doubt I…

A mad dog is far more dangerous than an enemy. Why? Because one is able to identify the so-called “enemy”. One can also anticipate his actions and plan counter moves, just like in a game of chess. Even military strategists play “war games” in the War Room. The same cannot be said for a mad…

There are two reasons why I enjoy watching tennis matches at Wimbledon on TV. The first is pretty obvious; they are played at a convenient time. The second is that it is a grass court that is conducive to the fast serve and volley game; so different from the baseline slugfests on the slow red…

(A sequel to “On the Mat”) Right through school I hated history, perhaps for the stupid way that it was taught. However, as I became more and more involved with people, I discovered the wonder of history, and its direct bearing on our present day lives. My twin sister is the head of the Department…

He was on the mat, flat on his back, and then he sat up like a conjurer taking something out of his hat, and the world gave this fat cat a pat on the back! Sorry if the rhymes of this muse confuse you (there I go again)! I was just referring to Namo and…

We have had a surfeit of conspirational theories from the time of British India’s “Divide & Rule” policy, to the mysterious disappearance of Subash Chandra Bose; Indira Gandhi’s all weather “foreign hand”, and now the BJP’s tirade against “conversions”! So the reader must needs be forgiven for having misread the title of this piece, and…