Category Archives: My Notebook

Global Cosmopolis

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR What is the most ideal, resplendent mosaic of our global economy today, notwithstanding conflicts, wars, dissonance, hatred, racism and whatever there is for one to think of — viz., the other word for suffering, or destruction? The answer is — the globalisation of economic activity, the reshaping of economic life from the personal […]

Cricket’s First Engineer

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR There was something special, also magical, about Farokh Maneksha Engineer. Picture this. His handsome face, his Brylcream-dotted mane, his aristocratic, yet well-grounded face, his conspicuous sideburns, the walk with great aplomb, the riveting style he embraced and diffused, the transcendent poise he echoed, the commitment, flair and flamboyance with which he draped his […]

When ‘Tiger’ Blazed Bright

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Mansur Ali Khan ‘Tiger’ Pataudi was, doubtless, India’s leading batsman in the 1960s, and early 1970s. Yet, what takes precedence was his reputation as one of the best captains the country ever produced — the best, perhaps, of his type. As a batsman, ‘Tiger’ was cavalier and creative. The Atlas of Indian batting […]

Hope In The Midst Of Chaos

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR There’s chaos, racial prejudice, economic upheaval, not to speak of political and religious turmoil, all around. Picture this — the shocking civil unrest in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, among others, aside from the most recent, astounding Gen Z-initiated ‘perestroika’ in Nepal. When one thinks of the theory of chaos, one can’t help but […]

Ted’s Tale

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR The lives of great achievers have always had a conventional simile: rags-to-riches aetiology, abusive childhood, poverty beyond hope, violence, and, in some cases, manic depression — a sort of Freudian element that runs through such ‘epic’ stories like blockbuster movies. You’d also think of it as a requisite element directly, or indirectly, responsible […]

Wodehouse Forever

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR The English wordsmith Evelyn Waugh placed it all in the right perspective, “[P G] Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.” Perfect words; also, […]

Remembering M V Kamath

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR It is rightly said that self-made individuals who know their path guide themselves — and, they cannot lose their way, or goal. This is primarily because the path they love to tread presents itself below their feet. The picturesque boulevard they choose may just as well twist, or turn, and impediments would emerge, […]

Hope In The Face Of Despair

RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR We are all trapped in a vice-like grip today — the deadly, toxic ‘hold’ of ethnic, emotional, or fanatical upheaval. A case in point — call it human deception, or the fluctuating progression of the nastiest of times. From the most sophisticated to the lowest of ‘low-tech’ advance. And, as the monstrous threat […]