Author Archives: udaykumarvarma9834

BridgesConnect, Conduct, ConveyPlaces, Matter, ProgressImagineWithout themOur lives would have beenMere islands! BridgesAre madeWith Stones, Wood, SteelEven Mud and MortarThey serveDiverse purposesToday, and over eons! BridgesTake us toThe times aheadFrom posterity to futureFrom behind to beyondThey surely representOur increasing quest forProgress profound! BridgesWill they alsoConnect us to worlds unknown?To lands unchartered, unexplored?To realms beyond matter, mindContinue reading “Bridges”

By common consensus, the newspapers as we understand them today – printed, dated, containing variety of news items; and brought out at frequent interval- made their appearance in mid 16th century. The term newspaper became common in the 17th century. Germany was the home to such publications in the beginning. Historically though, Acta Diurna wasContinue reading ““The Daily Courant” – The First English Daily Newspaper”

The ills of modern living, relentlessly driven by consumerism, have exacerbated and manifested manifold following the COVID-19 epidemic. These complex and compelling evils require fresh examination with new insights available as a consequence of the virus and its aftermath. The fact that passion and pursuance of consumerism has not been in the least bit dentedContinue reading “The Pathology of Consumerism and the Curse of Nihilism”

Maha Shivratri offers an opportunity to consider and comprehend what Lord Shiva stands for. In the trinity of Gods, Shiva supposedly controls the aspect of destruction. Destruction is a precondition for creation. As the sum total of all energy is constant, only the forms it takes transform, any new creation shall necessarily involve demise ofContinue reading “Maha Shivratri”

In May of 47 BCE, Caesar travelled to Asia to confront and defeat the rebellious Pharnaces II, King of Pontus, in an area near the Black Sea in north-eastern Turkey. With only three legions, Caesar marched against Pharnaces and his force of 20,000 and trounced him handily in the Battle of Zela, or what isContinue reading “General Napier and the One-Word Despatch”

“E vero, e vero, e vero!This is the ring you gave me and these are your promises!”(Artemisia’s statement while being tortured during her rape trial) Women painters are not widely discussed and a list of outstanding painters is likely to miss a woman. Whether it is the result of relatively fewer women artists or theContinue reading “A Painter who took Revenge in Oil”

A plaque in East London reads, “The ablest and most renowned Navigator this or any country hath produced lived in a house a few yards from this spot, 126, Upper Shadwell“. This ‘ablest and most renowned’ navigator is Captain James Cook, who is credited to have done more than any other explorer in human historyContinue reading “A Tryst with Death on a Lonely Shore”

“I didn’t write it. God wrote it. I merely did his dictation.” Few books in the history of humankind have been able to keep a tryst with destiny. Das Kapital is believed to be one such book. But there have been others too. Some are privileged by providence to be widely acclaimed while some others,Continue reading “An Abolitionist Little Woman who started the Great War”

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of United States was born today February 12 in the year 1809. He was the tallest President, physically (6 feet 3 inches), literally, morally and intellectually, and definitely the tallest in public esteem and regard. He was also the first President to sport a beard though not the only one.Continue reading “A President Raises a Beard”

“the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”Perhaps one of the most discussed public issues of all times is theContinue reading “Robert Peel and Police Reforms”