A GLIMPSE OF OUR ROOTS
Preamble A great deal has been said and written about our illustrious and Saintly ancestor, Bhai Hira Singh ji (1879-1926). His accomplishments were extensively covered by the media of his times and functions are held all over the world in his memory on 2nd September every year. His biography has gone into several editions and his pictures adorn several museums, including the Golden Temple and …
LEARNING ENGINEERING IN THE ‘BC’ ERA
Note: The word ‘engineer’ has its roots in the Latin word ingeniare, which means ‘to devise in the sense of construct, or craftsmanship’. Several other words are related to ingeniare, including ingenuity. Thus an engineer is a person who invents a smarter technique of doing a job. The word “engine”, derives from the Latin ingenium (c. 1250), meaning “innate quality, …
OUR MOTHER, WHOM WE CALLED “Jhaiji”
Many years ago, I read a poem by Ogden Nash, of which an abridged version is given below: One kind of person when catching a train, always wants to allow an hour to cover the ten-block trip to the terminus, And the other kind looks at them as if they were verminous, And the second kind says that five minutes …
Inhi Ki Kirpa Ke Saje Hum Hain…
Life, for me and my wife, turned a new leaf in June 1997. After four decades in uniform, I retired from the Army. Fortunately for me, getting a job was not difficult. Out of the three or four viable options, I chose to join Ashok Leyland, to head their newly established ‘Management Development Centre’ (MDC) in Hosur, which is a suburb of …
AN OLD LAMP WITH A BRIGHT FLAME
Look at the picture. You see an antique lamp. In fact it is made out of an inkpot. A wick has been drilled into the stopper to create this improvised contraption. And yet the flame is bright; complete with an orange tip at the …
MARZ BADHHTA HI GAYA JYON JYON DAWA KI…
Originally posted on 23 March 2012 : This is a tale of woes. I have chosen to share it with you for two reasons : one, because it taught me a lesson and second, for catharsis. I hope to feel lighter after I get it off my chest. I want to forget the episode. About two months ago, I caught …
LIGHTNING AT THE NDA
Originally posted on 6 July 2010 : Our nephew, Maj Aman Brar who is doing his Staff College in Paris, has sent in a special request. He wants to see that NDA picture of lightning which we took fifty years ago. Well, here it is. I have scanned it and edited it. If you have a picture manager (which I …
MORE DEADLY THAN SUICIDE BOMBERS
The attached link has come to me from several sources. It is a five minute interview with a Jehadi suicide bomber who is determined to carry out his mission. The interview is in Urdu, but the clip has English sub-titles. The extent to which he has been brain-washed borders on hypnotism.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD-Nny3EP98 (You must be above 18 to view this …
IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY
When I was a child I disliked old persons. They repeated what they had said before a hundred times, and expected us to listen to them with rapt attention. Those days we had gramophones, and if the disc got worn out the ‘needle’ used to get stuck in a groove, and played the same line over and over until some …
Electricity in the Golden Temple : “Guru Bhakta or Bijli Bhakta?”
Originally posted on 16 Oct 2010 : On the birth anniversary of Shri Guru Ramdas ji, who founded the city of Amritsar and designed the Golden Temple, there was a befitting function in Amritsar last week. A few pictures of the temple as it looks at night are attached. As I sat through the telecast, my mind’s eye went back …
