Musings

Jagvir Goyal Swans might be able to predict or choose their death. Before dying, they sing. For most of their lifespan of 12 years to 30 years, these monogamous birds remain mute. When they sing, it is their last rendering. Perhaps that’s why it’s so sweet. Humans term it as ‘swansong’ and apply it to the humans. The last creations of artists, may be a song or a story or painting or rendition is called their swansong. And a swansong is supposed to be the best rendering. In case of humans however, there first creation is often found as the [...]

Sometime back, Dhoni retired and the world went mad. Twitter and Instagram burst with messages and compliments. TV Channels put the burning issues and National events on the back burner. Google trended ‘Dhoni’ at the top of the list. There were claims over not to allot his Jersey number 7 to any other player. That’s what ‘fame’, said to be the real thing in the world, caused to a person, I comprehended. Actors, Cricketers, Sports players, Politicians, Singers and writers were the ones who really got famous. Others went unsung or at the most got known to their local circles [...]

I am a proud Hindu, having full faith in my religion and its teachings. But frankly speaking, I can’t ever stop admiring one sect of human beings-The Sikh community! Great writer and Author, Khushwant Singh had an uncanny quality to laugh at himself that made him tell Santa-Banta jokes in his columns. Whenever I come across any such jokes, I wonder how a mole turns into a mountain. Type the word Santa Banta in Google search engine and millions of results appear in 0.61 seconds! All this may have happened in light moments of life but somehow, these jokes hurt. [...]

As I look at the delightfully beautiful cover of the book ‘The Solitary Sunflower in my Bageecha’ by Nazam Riar, shared by the author in the elite Middle writers group of top cop writer Rajbir Deswal, I think of the sheer rather utmost joy that the release of a book brings to its author. At the same time, I think of the books that might be getting published all over the world every day. A random search on Google reveals that about 22.00 lakh books get published worldwide every year with India publishing about one lakh out of them. That [...]

The train from Delhi to Mumbai was about to leave. Sardar Jagtar Singh Gill occupied his seat in the first class coach and started reading the newspaper that he had bought at the railway station. He was Master Warrant Officer in the Indian Air Force. Often he had to attend to cases at Amritsar and this forced him to travel all the way from Mumbai to Amritsar every time. Fully sincere to his duties, Gill was now fed up with this long traveling and impatiently waiting for the train to move. The man sitting in the seat next to Gill’s [...]

The moment a person puts a stethoscope around his neck, it lends identity and respect to him. Doctors, while moving briskly through the patient filled corridors of hospitals always put it around their necks to ensure a free passage to them. A white coat alone doesn’t certify a person as doctor, a stethoscope does. Not only in hospitals, wearing it around the neck lends respect to the person even in public and that includes traffic police. The moment a traffic policeman finds it across the neck of the driver, his attitude softens. However, with time, this magical medical instrument is [...]