Indian Antarctic Expedition —Philatelist’s Guide : A Review ‘When I saw the first iceberg, draped in the evening sun and glittering like gold on the vast expanse of water, I decided I will definitely write a memoir of my journey…
Author: umashankar
I am just a watcher then. Sometimes I watch life, sometimes I watch death; many times I watch in between...
The Ungolden Ball
As Argentine football hung by a tenuous gossamer, clinging to the last few blinks of life, he stooped over the ball before the free-kick, aware of the cosmic weight of the moment. ‘It’s now or it’s never,’ intoned the commentator,…
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Known
As I hover metaphysically over Estádio Nacional de Brasília, along with the cameras that keep criss-crossing and snooping in the field, my daughter asks me a question in the middle of the simmering knockout fixture between La Albiceleste and Les…
A Country Hanged
“The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation.” ~ Thomas Malthus I look at the sun and it is not the same. How does it look to those hanging in a tree, trampled and trudged, ploughed and…
A Glass of Ice Water
‘It's like giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell.’ ~Steve Jobs, about iTunes on Windows computers. Perhaps you missed me in my period of quiet, or shall I say disquiet? Allow me to explain, though I may…
Shakespeare’s Email
'The evening is still, the birds silent, the wind dead like a tramp, flopped on a footpath. The sky is dressed in dust and dusk.' (From my short story: End of Dusk) I look at my face in the mirror…
Sorting Out Sid –A Review
A man may put his foot in his mouth once in a while and then a man may stick it there forever. Can it get weirder than that? What if that lean, clean-cut, boyish man of 36, with carefully gelled…
The Scarecrow from East
(It all began here. Read the previous part here.) They moved along a track in the grass to the north. A flock of ravens burst from a nearby tree, intent on killing one of their own, filling the air with a harsh war…
The Killer in Alcatraz
(It all began here. Read the previous part here.) A dense mass of tall cowboy hats bustled about the Embarcadero, just beyond the Ferry Building. The faces buried under the wide, panning brims, their hands waved towards him, many of them holding whiplashes.…
Bridge of Sighs
(It all began here. Read the previous part here.) ‘You are going to rue this, officer.’ Vernon’s voice was getting the reedy edge, a sign he was about to explode. ‘It’s my job to put aliens and saboteurs across the Bridge of Sighs.…
Forbidden City
(It all began here. Read the previous part here.) They entered The Presidio through Marina Gate and strolled down the road fragrant with eucalyptus trees, mixed with whiffs of fresh sea foam. The breeze blew soft, laced with salt, whispering moistly in the…
Under the Orange Bridge
(It all began here. Read the previous part here.) Paul Barker came from a family of ranchers and cotton farmers, proud of its herd of quarter horses, from the South Plains of Texas. When the conscription act of 1917 came into…
One Grain Amongst the Storm 