Category Archives: Literature / Culture

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR When Alan Davidson and Robert Davidson published their parental wisdom book, “How Good Parents Raise Great Kids,” exactly 30 years ago, they shared the collective wisdom of parents in their own words. This was unique, what with its in-depth look at the lives of families whose kids were doing well. The book explained […]

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers. What a name — and, description. A gallant knight and the game’s ultimate all-rounder. Sobers, who made his Test debut, against England, at Kingston, 72 years ago [1953-54], was a total cricketing phenomenon. A three-, or four-in-one, marvel. He’s a Brian Lara with the bat, an Alan Davidson […]

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR The horrendous COVID-19 pandemic compelled us to realise that the most expensive things in life do not really bring profound happiness. Yet, the fact also is — blame it on our short-term memory — we are always drawn to them. It is rightly said that objects imitate life at the material level. In […]

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Language arises from our frame of reference: of how we position what we want to communicate. The deduction is apparent. If our chassis of referral is to become all the more efficient, our language needs to reflect that — like a mirror. The matrix of reference, in the past, was that of a […]

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR It’s over five+ decades ago that the one and only John Wayne accepted the role of Major John Reisman in The Dirty Dozen [1967], a spectacular, runaway blockbuster. He asked Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM] for certain script changes, albeit he pulled out of the project to make The Green Berets [1968]. He was replaced by Lee […]

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Picture this. Over 23 million copies of James Redfield’s debut novel have sold worldwide, since it was first published, over 30 years ago. Not only that. It was for a spiritual novel, capitalising on Americans’ quest for the sacred, and topping the fiction list — the true barometer of the cultural marketplace —really […]

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR It’s, to use a Dickensian phrase, the best of times, and the worst of times. And, as we navigate in our society where instinct is given a free ticket, we are paradoxically not willing to grow up. We are growing up, all right, in a way, but only as ‘half-adults.’ Besides, we are running […]

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR When psychologist Abraham Maslow studied self-actualised individuals, it led him to the idea that such ‘stand-out’ individuals are above the pack, or a cut above the rest. And, that they are adept and skilful in surmounting numerous challenges of life and accomplishing their maximum potential through peak experiences. In the process, Maslow discovered […]

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR  It is a common question — what’s the most extraordinary scientific legacy of Charles Robert Darwin’s vision of life? The answer is simple. Chance variation, juxtaposed by its primary motif of natural selection. A marvellously simple, yet elegant, tale of how organisms are created and extinguished. Modern biology expresses this fascinating story in […]

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Partap Sharma, playwright, author, actor, director, filmmaker, and voice-over artist, with the golden larynx, was a genuine article. He not only carved a special niche for himself in everything he did, or explored, but he also set a benchmark — all his own. Sharma’s foremost job was, of course, keyed to his gilded […]