No rice recipes in this piece, just a rice-eater’s lament on quibbles over how to cook rice — More than 3.5 billion people in the world eat rice. I am one of them. My rice consumption, however, is not on a regular basis. It would not make a dent in the 504.3 million metric tons of rice which was consumed worldwide in the 2020–2021 crop year. With this…

Placing the phrases ‘writing for a living’ and ‘not all about money’ in a sentence smack of contradiction. But, really, it isn’t so. — The phone call was not unexpected. It was general election year, and crunch time for the candidates was only five weeks away. The caller, for the second time, wanted me to accept an election project. Her client was a candidate seeking re-election to a national post.

And get away with it (promise, no plagiarism involved) — There will be moments, even days, when a writer’s creative juice would one day take a jaunt to somewhere. This is not unusual. It’s not even something (for writers) to be overly worried about. Our intrinsic creativity sometimes takes a break. Even machines need downtimes, right? But what about when…

Both can cut and either can kill — Time and again, I come across and experience situations in which someone bad-mouths another. Like a freelance writer who called a young editor a b**ch just because the latter had rejected the former’s story submissions, one after another. After calling this editor names, the contributor continued to submit his manuscripts…

Which pattern would you choose? — A tinge of envy when allowed to take hold could turn into a tonne of hate. A drop of fear when granted to grow could freeze a hardy resolve. A tad of indecisiveness when given a pass could ruin a will. Life is a mosaic with drools of negativity but with drizzles…

But are they friends or foes? — Squirrels are regarded by many as pests in gardens and the wider countryside. They are viewed as vermin and taxonomically speaking, as rodents. They steal food meant for little birds. How could songbirds — the robins, the finches, the blackbirds, the wrens and many more — compete against squirrels that…

Some pretty flowers are poisonous but a number of people could be as toxic, too — Beauty, they say, is in the eyes of the beholder. A beauty title holder may be seen by most as gorgeous, but a few might see the beauty contest winner as hideous. Opposing views, in the case of flowers, are hardly ever heard. Their beauty is not only in the…

No need for them to hire a diversity trainer or a consultant to teach them about equality and inclusion — A word that has gained traction in recent times is diversity. Some institutions, both public and government, have diversity consultants. Their role is to promote a workforce that is reflective of a diverse society. In the corporate world, diversity is a key word. Diversity, equality and inclusion — these are…

You would, too, if you see what I saw! — An active imagination, for me, is a blessing. As a creative writer for as long as I can remember, an imagination that flows with fluid creativity is a godsend. But what happens when an over-active imagining bumps and crashes into something terrifying? Floating on a sea of marshmallow-like softness