An Indecisive Indian

  To abuse or not to abuse: that is not the question. Abuse one must as a response to any name-calling, cursing, profanities, epithets, or expletives which seek to demean the recipient. The question is, how to do it tellingly? Perhaps not through the befuddled Hamlet, but otherwise, Shakespeare can certainly be a good teacher of this skill.  In Henry IV, Part 2 , authorities have come to arrest Falstaff at the suit of Mistress Quickly, the recently-widowed hostess, the innkeeper of the tavern which Falstaff and his licentious chums haunt; the suit being that Falstaff had run up a large debt and made a fraudulent proposal of marriage . A brawl ensues and the following vituperative conversation stands out: Hostess:  … Wilt thou, thou bastardly rogue?... Ah, thou honeysuckle villain…Ah, thou honeyseed rogue, thou art a honeyseed, a man-queller, and a woman-queller… Thou wot, wot thou wot, wot ta? Do, do, thou rogue! do, thou hemp-seed! Page: Away, you scullion, you ramp...

  Even as I write this blog, the third rake of Train 18 has been turned out of Integral Coach Factory (ICF), after a much-publicized visit by the Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, fashioned as an inspection and not a grand unveiling or launch ceremony. The rake is now under extensive testing by Research, Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) of Indian Railways (IR) with a view to putting it on line as the third Vande Bharat express and I understand that the tests are going on at a great speed, understandably following a directive of the Minister to do so. It is nearly four years since the first rake was unveiled with much ballyhoo in October 2018 with palpable excitement among ICF staff and yes, their families.   For the unveiling of the first train in 2018, I had arranged for a trumpet call panoply on purpose as the team had worked hard and they deserved to let go. As their leader, I afforded a picnic for them to move in the train and take proud selfies with their...

  Ghālib and Shakespeare , arguably two of the greatest poets ever. The number of people who love their poetry is legion and a good majority of them are on the same boat as mine; they love something they are not formally trained to appreciate. Most of them, just as I, labour along to read these poets and struggle to grasp as much as they can, for the fruits of this exercise are very sweet and fulfilling.   But what about those from the smug brigade of pure pretenders who have been aided staunchly by the ubiquitous WhatsApp Academy for Advancement of Asinine Puerility (WAAAP) ? They kill the essence of these poets, particularly of our chachā Ghālib, with all kinds of trite attributed to them.   These two poets have become such a giant in the field of poetry that they are naturally best-suited for wide-ranging misuse, mostly in terms of wrong attribution and misquotes. Price they pay for their, greatness, surely. Yet, while they annihilate Ghālib , the bard is spared suc...