The last three years in Calcutta, my few woollen garments have languished incan an old iron trunk that once belonged to one of my paternal aunts. I haven’t used them because it never felt so cold that I needed them. Not that this phenomenon hasn’t struck me in the years before but I wasn’t convinced of the permanent departure of winter. Now I am. Winter has left this city. It isn’t that Calcutta ever experienced the...

Shortly after I wrote this post, I read a report in a French language newspaper on cycling. It reported that Elisabeth Borne, the French Minister of Transport has said,” We must stop looking at the bike patronisingly and consider it a minor matter. “ She is thinking of launching a great bike plan in early 2018 for improving daily transport and help the bicycle to take off as a daily mode of transport for many. Still little known in France, the...

Working from home allows a city-dweller to escape the daily drudgery of commuting. When such an individual goes out even for a brief sojourn within the city, she is quickly annoyed by the condition of roads and the interminable traffic jams. The wait appears endless. What  a waste of time and energy!  Do we ever care to find how many man days we lose by keeping our women and men waiting on the roads? What is its effect on the environment, on...

Serial No. Young Animal 1 calf antelope/buffalo/camel/cattle/elephant/elk/giraffe/hartebeest/rhinoceros/seal/whale 2 cheeper grouse/quail/partridge 3 colt horse 4 cub badger/bear/fox/leopard/lion/tiger/walrus/wolf 5 cygnet swan 6 duckling duck 7 eaglet eagle 8 elver eel 9 eyas hawk 10 fawn caribou/deer 11 filly horse 12 foal horse/zebra 13 fry fish 14 gilt pig 15 gosling goose 16 joey kangaroo/wallaby/possum 17 kid goat/roedeer 18 kit...

Serial No. Animal Male Female 1 antelope buck doe 2 badger boar sow 3 bear boar sow 4 bobcat tom lioness 5 buffalo bull cow 6 camel bull cow 7 caribou stag doe 8 cat tom queen 9 cattle bull cow 10 chicken cock hen 11 cougar tom lioness 12 coyote dog bitch 13 deer stag doe 14 dog dog bitch 15 donkey jackass jennyass 16 duck drake duck 17 elephant bull cow 18 ferret jack jill 19 fish cock hen 20 fox fox vixen 21 giraffe bull cow 22 goat billygoat...

The other day I read a report (Harvard talks back to hard work: Professor finds Modi’s election victory like a Bollywood blockbuster) in The Economic Times on the remarks made by Bhaskar Chakravorti, a Tufts University public policy professor, on Narendra Modi’s latest election victory. The report also contained comments about what the author considered a ‘policy failure’, namely demonetisation. The most intriguing...