Everyone has a story to tell……
I had walked away from Rahul Joshi, my head still reeling with the talks we had had. But I was glowing inside, happy for him and amazed how each one of us had travelled his or her own path and reached his or her own destinations; and such amazing ones too!!! I will always remember... Continue Reading →
Meanwhile the girls of our batch had something of their own cooking. Most of them were dressed in formals – Indian suits, lehnga-chunnis and ghagharas etc. and they giggled and chatted and gesticulated. They had prepared something and were ascending the stage for the presentation. Alka, Srabani, Neeti, Ruchi, Puja, Payal, Meenakshi, Stuti, Monica, Rajul... Continue Reading →
That night’s dinner was in the hotel itself, which was a relief since none of us had the strength to go anywhere else after the day’s excursion. We had rested a little after coming back to the hotel and then had started getting dressed. I felt happy. My little talk with Hanumanji, the stone deity,... Continue Reading →
My life in college had always been public. I had wanted it that way, and destiny had willed it that way. For long I had lived cooped up inside my home, inside my mind, inside others’ rules and expectations. In college I had broken all shackles and come out and exposed myself to public eye.... Continue Reading →
The story thus far has meandered towards its inevitable end which, though still far away, is now in sight. The climax remains, the crescendo is yet to be reached, the crux of the matter is yet to be touched, the truth is yet to be told – not the whole truth, not the complete truth;... Continue Reading →
We moved along again, descending from the second floor, using the flight of stairs at the west end of the spine, and reached the ground floor. On the ground floor, we moved from the west end towards the middle of the hostel once more, headed for the mess hall now, and the adjoining canteen. Moving... Continue Reading →
Dhanwantari hostel was also shaped like a square bracket, with two additional limbs jutting out from the outer surface of the bracket making it seem like a crab if one could get an aerial view of the hostel. Inside the bracket, right about its middle, where the belly of the crab should have been, was... Continue Reading →
Ruiya Hostel, in our times was an undergraduate hostel, where freshers were given accommodation when they first joined the MBBS course in IMS, BHU. And thus, this was the place where we, the boys I mean since it was a boys-only hostel, had met first and become friends and had started making our memories. The... Continue Reading →
After lunch we piled up inside our cars again and drove inside the main BHU campus. What was on the agenda now? The best part – visit to the IMS, the hostels and ‘my’ temple. As the cars entered the main gate of the Institute of Medical Sciences, IMS, our Alma Mater, I felt as... Continue Reading →
Grind, grind, grind. Life has been like an interminable grind ever since Corona. There has been no ‘work from home’ for us doctors! No holidays, no vacations, no leaves of absence. While the world stayed indoors, we have gone out and done our jobs; and it has taken its toll. Life has become a grind.... Continue Reading →
The main alumni function was to be held in the auditorium of the newly built Trauma Centre, adjacent to the main campus of BHU, over a land which had lain fallow for several decades till recently. The new campus, which housed the Trauma Centre, part of the Institute of Medical Sciences – our Alma Mater,... Continue Reading →
Some of us boys stayed back at the club however, having sent our families to the hotel in different vehicles. The night was still young, and we wanted to make the maximum of it. We were in Banaras after such a long time that we wanted to drink in every moment, savor every second of... Continue Reading →
As the evening wore on, we noticed that Amita and Sridhar had taken charge of the sound system and were preparing to begin the performances for the night, mainly by the children. The chairs had been arranged neatly in rows in front of the backdrop, with an aisle in between, and most of the women... Continue Reading →
I have faint memories of the Banaras club, having attended a few parties there during my college time. That night, however, I could not recognize it. Maybe it had been too long, I thought, as I got down from the car inside the Banaras club. The banquet hall was on the first floor of a... Continue Reading →
Later, as we exited the temple, Appu and Sutanu pulled my leg that I had myself become adept at delivering sermons and that maybe I should consider a switch of professions. I took the friendly jibe as a compliment. Yes, I had lately become quite interested in religion and religious literature. For several years now... Continue Reading →
All the Shiva temples across India will have a small furrow like conduit cut out into the floor on one side, which serves to drain out the water or milk or other fluids which are used to wash the ‘lingam’; the ceremony being called ‘abhishek’ or anointing. This conduit runs from the base of the... Continue Reading →
As the car sped past the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Performing Arts, I went back in time and could envision myself walking along on those roads in the evenings or driving by on Appu’s scooter and, later, on my own. I knew, the temple was coming up soon, I could see the... Continue Reading →
Later, as we collected our shoes from the shoe stall, Shubhi asked me, ‘Papa, do we have to pay the person who takes care of our shoes?’ ‘No beta,’ I said, ‘The service is free of cost and is rendered voluntarily by the people residing in the temple premises. But as a gesture of good... Continue Reading →
The cavalcade moved on to the next destination on our itinerary – the Sankat Mochan temple. The temple is dedicated to the Vaanara deity or Monkey God from Ramayana, the immortal Hindu epic. He is popular across India as Hanuman or Maruti. His other, lesser known name is Sankat Mochan or ‘trouble shooter’, as Maruti... Continue Reading →
We passed Bhelupur and I recognized an old theatre which had now been converted into a shopping arcade. ‘Vijaya was the name,’ I thought. The car sped along the congested roads with the chaotic traffic which had always been so characteristic of Banaras. But no, there was a difference now. The roads were wider, well... Continue Reading →
