Think Tank

(Smaller Gods) Even in scarcity It was yet another rainy evening in Mumbai. As my bus stopped (or may be moved too slow) as the rush hour traffic snarled through a particular locality, I saw some hutments made on one side of the road. They were perhaps nomads who had settled there for some months. I glanced [...]

(Smaller Gods) Like Mother, Like Son There was nothing unusual about the day when I entered the restaurant for an evening tea. As I waited and stared at the crowded street, I found I had a companion. Sitting next table was a young boy of around 10. His clothes were telling that he was born into a [...]

Strange are the people, strange are their dreams; strange are our lives and strange are our means. But great is our country where people go out to achieve their strange dreams in their own strange ways while carrying on to their not-so-strange lives.  Story of two Dosa Sellers  (India) (People) Dosa vendor turns painter From mixing dosa batter for [...]

Smaller Gods One Rama in my Life… The day before, someone asked me, “Who cooks up food for you?”. I told him that each meal of the day was prepared by someone different :) V T will say how lucky I am :) :) Yes, I am lucky, not for those who prepare food for me, but for [...]

Smaller GodsThe lady and her ear-ring While I cross a railway bridge each morning and all evenings, I see a lot of people: a variety of J. But yesterday when I saw her, my eyes got fixed for a moment. She was a lady of around 45, slim, short, fair, and with a white stick. Her [...]

LifePersonalGods in small things In my world, small is all that matters. After all, big is made up of small things! So in my own style, I steal some small moments from the lives of the not-small people around me. Here are some six encounters I can recall now: 1.  I never knew my neighbourhood ice-cream wallah [...]

Faithfulness  Kumar Rahul Tiwary One of my friends told me this real story. His father was posted in a small forest town at that time. One day, while he was passing through a stretch adjacent to the forest, 5-6 wild dangerous looking dogs surrounded him. There was no one else around. Suddenly, a small local dog [...]

God of Smaller Things  A story in my “Breathless style”. No full stops; go on reading.  He is a road side cobbler; of around 40. He may be 50, but it doesn’t matter. He occupies part of the pavement besides Mumbai’s busy traffic. He sets up his stall every morning and winds up in evenings. [...]

Learning work ethics from a Kachra wallah………………………………………………………………………………We don’t stop learning. We can learn anytime, anywhere, from anyone. That is what is expected from us in our lives. We all have heard a lot about the Dabba wallas of Mumbai. The Dabba wallahs deliver Tiffin boxes at the right places with six sigma accuracy. Some days [...]

Warriors in trucks             ………………………………………………………………………………I want to share with you what I saw last night. Everyday in our cement plant, fleets of trucks come and leave for loading and unloading material. Because of delay in loading etc, often the truck drivers and their helpers need to stay in the night near the ‘truck yard’. This is [...]