A small city in what is now a small country (modern Austria’s population is 9M) which possesses the legacy of an empire many times its size with a population of over 70M oppressing and oppressed souls. Vienna is really a block of former palaces, now converted into museums, apartments, offices and concert halls, with public […]
Vienna – a city of palaces Read More »
I’d always wanted to visit Berlin, Vienna and Budapest. I had many invitations, and for one or more reasons they never panned out. This time, I just went, for time does not stand still and age creeps up insidiously. I’ll cover Berlin in this article, and the other two cities in articles to follow. Berlin,
Berlin – a tortured past and a creative future on display Read More »
I was in my high school debating society a long time ago, a place I loved to hang out purely for the ideas that wafted in the air and for the intellectual stimulation it gave me. Anything and everything was debatable, as long as we followed the rules and norms of debating: make your case,
Wanted: A Balanced Forum for Debate Read More »
When I was a kid, I had to memorize the arithmetical tables, I had to remember important dates in history, and recall key cities in geography that were associated with industries such as coal, gold, manufacturing, tourism and politics. My teachers would inflict all sorts of punishments on me for faulty memory or lack of
The Age of Evaluation Read More »
I have often thought about this day and what it would mean for me. I have given up a lot of things with age: cricket, tennis, jogging, rock bands, jet-setting, corporate game-playing, even gym. I have hung onto home exercises, walking, golf and writing, and I know that eventually I will have to give up
When is it time to stop writing? Read More »
Original Post on The Reading Lists website at this link:
The Funniest Books…. Read More »
(This article was published in the Sri Lankan Anchorman newspaper in April 2019) Once upon a time, the bombs tolled only for those engaged in conflict; those in wars, those invading others and the invaded responding in like manner, and those trying to sabotage oppressive rulers of a country to gain notoriety or freedom. Now
For whom the bombs toll Read More »
How do you describe your occupation? I am a jack-of-all-trades, having had several occupations over 45 years of working life, sometimes several at one time. I am glad I did, for it has kept me gainfully employed right through, barring a six-week patch when I collected unemployment insurance as I had run out of options.
The Reading Lists interviews Shane Joseph Read More »
There was the guy who popped a threatening e-mail into my inbox the other day saying that he’d caught me watching porn by inverting my laptop’s camera to capture my gasps and twitches of ecstasy, and was now going to post the footage for all the world to see if I did not give him
Reproduced here are the Eleven Questions with answers: What inspired you to write fiction? I was always inspired by the parables of Jesus. So much of the world and its complexity was conveyed in a simple story. It was so much easier to digest and retain than something prescriptive from a non-fiction book. When I
The Wombwell Rainbow Interview: Shane Joseph Read More »