The Magazines

Came across an article on The Guardian (Link), lamenting the closure of WH Smith bookstores and the subsequent loss of magazines, which the author used to peruse.

The article was quite triggering, and as I read it I tried but failed to recollect when was the last time I bought a magazine. Growing up, with much less access to resources than currently available, I remember magazines were bought and read and stored and re-read. Special editions (related to festivals, mega-sporting events, elections, year-end editions) were much sought after and became collectibles. Magazines provided glimpses of the world far beyond and guess that is why they were treasured.

And there was a wide range, widely displayed in the magazine shops and newspaper stands

• For the children and teens there were Champak, Nandan, Suman Saurabh, Chandamama, Golukalam, Target. All accompanying the growing up years
• India Today & Outlook catered to the current affairs, as did Dharmayug
• Manarama, Grihashobha, Femina for the ladies.
• Sportstar for the sports buffs with a bonus pullout poster
• Competition Success Review for the UPSC aspirants (and a few more which slip my mind)
• And in the hair cutting saloons were found the likes of Filmfare & Cine Blitz
• The Telegraph newspaper also brought along its own magazine every Sunday
• Readers Digest was a niche in itself, coming via mail order service. National Geographic was another niche delivery.
• And there was one for the tech bros of the 90s, which came in its own packaging alongwith a CD!
• And there were quite a few others, but memory fails!

Magazines 90s edition (AI Generated Collage)

And fast forward to today. While magazines are still being published, the numbers certainly have dwindled and it is more and more difficult to access them. Every trip had to have a new magazine bought to kill the time, unlike today when the smartphone serves it all!

Times keep changing but the nostalgia remains!

P.S. Magic Pot - the one purchased most recently

BookMarks #144: Mind Reader

Title: Mind Reader

Author: Lior Suchard

Genre: Autobiography, Self-help

Published: 2013

BookMarks

Mind Reader is an autobiographical narration by a mentalist, Lior Suchard. The book tells about his performances as a mentalist, alongwith tips to improve the power of perception and persuasion in individuals. While no actual performance secrets are revealed (nor was it expected), he does give an insight into the human psychology and performing in front of an audience

He does highlight a couple of aspects

• The sixth sense - perceiving the world through the mind
• Chi energy, helping in telekinesis

Lines which stood out

• The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and lightning bug
• "A day without laughter is a day wasted" - Charlie Chaplin
• Always think happy thoughts as you never know who is reading them

P.S. In my mind read most of the narration in the voice of Patrick Jane, the most famous "Mentalist" of them all!

Previously on BookMarks: A Tiger for Malgudi

Road To Los Angeles: Episode 9 - Asian Games Edition

A lot of activity on the Indian Olympics front in the last few weeks with the Asian Games giving a preview of what to expect at Los Angeles. While the Olympics are still almost two years away, still get a good idea of things to look for. 

Here is a quick update on the events

The Qualifiers

• Hockey: Both the Men's & Women's Team have qualified by winning the Gold Medal at the Asian Games. While the Men made up a bit for the disappointing World Cup campaign, there is now a clear gulf in the class between India and the rest of Asia. The Women continued the upswing from the 5th place at the World Cup by winning the Gold after 44 Years
• Archery: Compound Mixed Team will be played for the first time at the Olympics. And the Indian duo of Chikitha Taniparthi & Sahil Jadhav earned the first ever Olympic quotas in the event. Kumkum Mohod broke the South Korean dominance in Recurve section and earned an Individual Quota place.

The Near Miss

• Squash: Both Anahat Singh & Abhay Singh lost in their respective Singles Finals to win Silver Medals. The Gold medallists earned Olympics quota

Asian Games Hits

• Recurve Archery, Shotgun Shooting, Boxing, Wrestling all brought in lots of medals and are in redemption phase 
• Team Sports getting double Golds - Hockey & Cricket (and of course Kabaddi as well)
• A first medal in Weightlifting since 1998 (that came as a bit of surprise - given that India won 2 Olympic medals in the interim!)
• Golf course providing a Gold
• Gulveer Singh & Vithya Ramraj  on the Tracks

Asian Games Misses

• Badminton - only one Team medal
• Tennis - a washout, after having been a guaranteed Gold supplier. Disappointing to see the legacy of Paes, Bhupathi, Bopanna, Sania going waste

And there were the usual administrative shenanigans, some sports excel in it and then the matter of doping which lead to few last-minute dropouts 

Asian Games Perspective for the LA

At first glance, it would seem there has been a decline in Team India's performance compared to Hangzhou, with medal count dropping from 106 to 85 & gold count dropping from 28 to 21, while the contingent retained the 4th place overall. However, if we consider it from a perspective of the Olympics events, a slightly different picture emerges.

17 of the 21 Golds have come in Olympic events. In contrast at Hangzhou, 12/28 were Olympics events. The boost has come from Cricket joining the roster and improved performances in Recurve Archery, Wrestling, Boxing.

A couple of caveats here

1. In many events at the Asian Games there are 2 Bronze medals awarded, unlike the Olympics which have a Bronze playoff. 
2. The Weight categories in Boxing may change, so there may not be a direct correlation between Aichi-Nagoya and LA
3. Mirabai Chanu's weight category is not included and she is likely to move up to a higher weight category

Qualification Summary: Sports - 3; Events - 5; Entries - 5; Athletes - 50 

Till Next time!

Links: Episode 8 

BookMarks #143: A Tiger For Malgudi

Title: A Tiger For Malgudi
Author: RK Narayan

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy

Published: 1983

BookMarks

"A Tiger For Malgudi" is an autobiography of a tiger, narrating his journey from being a cub, to acquiring and subsequently losing his family to humans, getting captured, becoming a circus performer, killing his owner, finding his "master" and finally going to his final resting place - a zoo.

As is wont of RK Narayan, the book is based in and around his own little world of Malgudi. The narrative occasionally moves from the tiger to the circus owner. Overall, it is a sad tale, with loss being a recurring theme. Only at the very end does the tiger find peace - in the care of a zoo.

A few bookmarks from the novel

• There is no such thing as a wild animal - any creature on four legs can be educated if you apply the right method
• Captain gave speeches in three languages - Hindi, the national language, given by Mahatma Gandhi, English, aa Nehru said, it opens a window to the world, Tamil, the mother tongue, of Kamban and Valluvar.
• Don't probe too far into the origins of a river or a saint. You will never reach the end

The story has a some parallels with the life of Gautam Buddha in the way the tiger's last master renounces his own family. 

Previously on BookMarks: Alberuni's India

Road To Los Angeles: Episode 8

29th August - National Sports Day. So perfect time to post a new episode of the Road to Los Angeles!

Since the last episode a few weeks back, we have had the Commonwealth Games, the Badminton World Championships and the Men's & Women's Hockey World Cups.

At the Commonwealth Games, there is nothing much to be read from the performances. In nearly all events, it is not more than a competitive warm-up. Very few events at these Games would be called truly world class. Men's Javelin was certainly one of them though with Neeraj Chopra on a comeback trail winning a Silver in a field packed with Olympic & World medalists. More heartening was Yashvir Singh getting the Bronze in the same event. 

Gulveer Singh's twin medals in the long races (10,000m & 5,000m) and Tejaswin Shankar winning a medal in Decathlon were certainly highlights for the campaign.

The Boxing contingent delivered lots of medals, but the performance of the weightlifters was not the best. Judo delivered its first Gold medals, but there was also a doping scandal! The doping menace has no end.

At the BWF Championships, India continued the 15-year streak of at least one medal per edition with Treesa Jolly & Gayatri Gopichand winning the Doubles Bronze. Ayush Shetty knocked out the World No. 1 in the 1st round, Sindhu showed that there is still some fight left, but overall the campaign in home conditions could have been better.

At the Hockey World Cups, initially the focus seemed more on the uproar over the changed kit colour than the preparation! The Women's team delivered a good show finishing 5th (best finish in over half a century!). Good to see the upswing after missing out the qualifications at Paris. The Men's team meanwhile disappointed finishing 8th.

So that was it for this edition. Coming up next - the Asian Games, with a few Quota places for grabs across sports

Qualification Summary for Team India: Sports 1, Events 1, Entries 1, Athletes 15

Till next time!

Links: Episode 7

India @79

 

Happy Birthday India!

'Tis time for the annual India post on the occasion of Independence Day, now in its 19th edition (Link for 2025 edition) Its been another weird trip around the Sun!

The nation's political landscape was shaken up by the emergence of a Gen Z movement sparked by a remark from the CJI. A movement based on a cause but fueled by reels! We have witnessed similar uprisings across the neighborhood but couldn't watching it unfold in India was surreal. All election calculations now need to take into account the mindset of an entirely new & different vote-bank! 

On the other hand, we have elected politicians merrily switching parties, making a complete mockery of the entire electoral process itself! While the common citizen is scrambling to prove their citizenship (given that none of the documents actually prove it!) and trying to search the electoral rolls from 2002 for the names of their relatives. Sifting through them is a mental roller-coaster given the sheer volume of typos and the fact that most of the constituencies themselves have undergone a drastic change due to delimitation. There couldn't be a better showcase of bureaucratic theatre than the SIR exercise!!

Moving from politics to the subject of geopolitics. A full scale war in West Asia, leads to choking of key energy transport routes sending most of the World including India to scour for alternate options. The situation may have eased out a bit but things continue to remain volatile, once again emphasizing the critical need for assured domestic energy supply.

And the energy must to be clean & green. Otherwise the already scorching heat wave is going to get hotter. The energy transition also needs to be fast especially with the emergence of AI as an energy guzzler. In the age of AI, it is becoming more and more difficult to differentiate the real from the fake. The more cynical folks now believe everything to be AI generated unless proven otherwise. Better to be safe than sorry in a more AI propelled scammy world.

On the other hand, lots of infrastructure being built but somehow not built to last. Falling bridges, potholed roads, leaking airports - this is one area which needs a permanent fix and not a bandaid solution.

Real money gaming was banned. Good riddance. Something which should have happened much earlier.  Still better late than never! This ban has also lead to a pause in the mushrooming sporting leagues. 

Given that it is still midway in the Olympics cycle, most Indian sports coverage is in a slumber. While sports administration is in shambles. Perfect example being football where an ISL champion club was sold for Rs. 100! India now holds the unwanted tag of being the global leader in doping violations. In this doom and gloom of the back pages of the newspaper the only silver linings have come from cricket - with the Women winning their first ever world title , the men retaining the T20 World Cup, and a 15-year old wunderkind blazing away all and sundry with his bat without a care in the world

So this was it as we enter into the 80th year of existence as an independent country.

Happy Independence Day! 

Jai Hind!

P.S. a map showing the princely states of pre-independence India coloured according to the number of gun salutes!

Bees Saal Baad!

13th August 2006

In the wee hours of one rainy night, sitting in the hostel room, exactly 20 years ago, this blog came into existence with the following

The Genesis

Why am I doing this?

Why did I start this blog?

Will anyone ever read this?

Do I really care if anyone reads this at all?

Why do I want to share my thoughts with the world?

The answer to all the above questions...

...simply, I dont know. I am not sure of the answers but it...

maybe I am doing this because its the latest fad.

or maybe I want an outlet for my feelings

or maybe I want another connection with the outside world

Or maybe at 1 A.M on a Saturday (actually Sunday) night I couldnt find anything better to do...so started a blog

Well, with these confused thoughts, I have made a beginning. I do not know where this journey is going to take me. I do not know what the destination is, I dont even know the route. But as its said "A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step".....This is my first step.

That first tentative step has been followed by a few more (more than 500 in fact). A journey which has lasted 20 years now. Just how old is this blog - to give a perspective, in 2006, Orkut (now defunct) was the social media rage, Facebook was still not available outside campuses, Twitter (now X) did not exist, Chatting medium were Yahoo Messenger & GTalk, not WhatsApp, internet was still more text dominated, unlike its more visual avatar now, and still dominated by computer rather than mobile! It pre-dates amongst other things - iPhone, Instagram, streaming services! In short, in tech terms - quite old! And despite all the changes, this blog trundled on!

To be honest, I still do not have the answers to the questions raised in the very first post. The posts themselves have evolved over time - random, cricket, few personal incidents, movies, to now - books (just me showing off), India's roads to the Olympics (in itself a long journey and not just once-in-four-years-event), year-end lists (TYIL & others) and the annual Independence Day post. Reading back, some of the posts are quite weird & cringe-worthy, but I guess that part of growing up as well!

And across this journey of 500+ posts over 20 years, there is also a realization that the blog was never for an audience but just for myself! Here is to the unscripted route and wherever it goes next!!!

Road To Los Angeles: Episode 7

Well, its been quite a while since the last episode on the Road To LA. After a prolonged hiatus, time to get this journey back on its path!

Since the last edition quite a few things have happened!

The Women's Cricket Team is the first from India to get a quota place via being the highest placed Asian team at the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Meanwhile the Men's team is in prolonged slump after having successfully defended their own World Championships title!

In Hockey, the women's team returns to the Pro League, while the Men just about retain their place. Both have World Cups coming soon.

Athletics has seen a slew of records being shattered including some long standing ones. While great to see the progress being made, we still are quite a bit away from the world standards. To give a perspective, in most of the events, our current National Records are at the same level, where the World Records were in 1960s & 70s. So, while the improvement is there, there is still a long way to go. Meanwhile a mention for Sarvesh Kushare for a 3rd place finish on Diamond league debut.

Also PV Sindhu has returned to winning ways with the Japan Open title

On the other hand, wrestling continues to be a mess, with Vinesh Phogat's return symbolizing all the chaos that is the sport in India.

Worse however, is India topping the list of doping offenders. Not something to be proud of.

Farewell and RIP Jaspal Rana, the man who brought Shooting into the news in the 1990s.

Now, over to the Commonwealth Games starting soon.

Qualification Summary for Team India: Sports 1, Events 1, Entries 1, Athletes 15

Till next time!

BookMarks #142: Alberuni's India

Title: Alberuni's India: An Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws and Astrology of India About A.D.1030

Author: Edward Sachau

Genre: History, Culture

Published: 1910

BookMarks

Translation of Al-Beruni's Kitab ta'rikh al-Hind, an enyclopedia on India of 1030 AD. This is an account of learnings from his stay in India, where he was sent by Sultan Mahmud of Persia. Quite a vast work of knowledge from someone who spent considerable time trying to learn a new place's history, customs, religion, philosophy, literature, science, astronomy, maths.

Following are some of the takes from the book

Views on Hindus (the resident of Hind)

• Maḥmûd utterly ruined the prosperity of the country, and performed there wonderful exploits, by which the Hindus became like atoms of dust scattered in all directions, and like a tale of old in the mouth of the people. Their scattered remains cherish, of course, the most inveterate aversion towards all Muslims. This is the reason, too, why Hindu sciences have retired far away from those parts of the country conquered by us, and have fled to places which our hand cannot yet reach, to Kashmir, Benares, and other places. And there the antagonism between them and all foreigners receives more and more nourishment both from political and religious sources.
• Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs. They are haughty, foolishly vain, self-conceited, and stolid. They are by nature niggardly in communicating that which they know, and they take the greatest possible care to withhold it from men of another caste among their own people, still much more, of course from any foreigner. According to their belief, there is no other country on earth but theirs, no other race of man but theirs, and no created.
• If they travelled and mixed with other nations, they would soon change their mind, for their ancestors were not as narrow-minded as the present generation is.
• The Hindus, like other people, boast of this enormous range of their language, whilst in reality it is a defect.

On knowledge & Vedas

• The scholars are well aware of the use of money, but the rich are ignorant of the nobility of science.
• Between man and God there are a thousand stages of light and darkness. Men exert themselves to pass through darkness to light, and when they have attained to the stations of light, there is no return for them.
• Veda means knowledge of that which was before unknown. It is a religious system which, according to the Hindus, comes from God, and was promulgated by the mouth of Brahman. The Brahmins recite the Veda without understanding its meaning, and in the same way they learn it by heart, the one receiving it from the other. Only few of them learn its explanation, and still less is the number of those who master the contents of the Veda and their interpretation to such a degree as to be able to hold a theological disputation.
• The Brahmins teach the Veda to the Kshatriyas. The latter learn it, but are not allowed to teach it, not even to a Brahmin. The Vaiśya and Śûdra are not allowed to hear it, much less to pronounce and recite it.
• If the Hindus happen to get some book which does not yet exist among them, they set at work to change it into Ślokas, which are rather unintelligible.
• The word dharma means reward, but in general it is used for religion

On Living Bodies

• There are three classes of them the spiritual ones in the height, men in the middle, and animals in the depth. Their species are fourteen in number, eight of which belong to the spiritual beings: Brahman, Indra, Prajâpati, Saumya, Gandharva, Yaksha, Râkshasa, and Piśâca. Five species are those of the animals — cattle, wild beasts, birds, creeping things, and growing things, i.e. the trees. And, lastly,. one species is represented by man.’”

On Hindu way of life

• They use turbans for trousers. (an interesting way to refer to dhoti)
• They do not ask permission to enter a house, but when they leave it they ask permission to do so.

On geography

The names of countries change, and particularly in the yugas. So Mûltân was originally called Kâśyapapura, then Haṁsapura, then Bagapura, then Sâmbhapura, and then Mûlasthâna, i.e. the original place, for mûla means root, origin, and tâna means place.”

Overall, quite an indepth reading of the India of a 1,000 years ago. An interesting external perspective of the life and times of our ancestors.

Previously on BookMarks: Matilda 

BookMarks #141: Matilda

Title: Matilda 

Author: Roald Dahl

Genre: Fiction, Children's

Published: 1988

BookMarks

Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Never do anything by halves. Do something so crazy that it is unbelievable.

Basic Premise: Matilda is a precocious child neglected by her parents, who learns mathematics and reading all by herself. Such is the power of her brain that it can even perform telekinesis.

Overall, it is a tale with a little bit of magic, quite a lot of family drama, some fraud, while being a quiet commentary on parenting.

Roald Dahl also inserts his books recommendation in the story, comprising of:

• Nicholas Nickelby by Charles Dickens
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
• Gone to Earth by Mary Webb
• Kim by Rudyard Kipling
• The Invisible Man by HG Wells
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• The Sound and Fury by William Faulkner
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• The Good Companions by JB Priestley
• Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
• Animal Farm by George Orwell

Trivia: Probably first time I have come across a protagonist who happens to be an Olympics Hammer Thrower

Previously on BookMarks: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (also by Roald Dahl)