Fatigue and travel go together. Hence, imagine the plight of weary travelers on horse or foot on mud and slush or non-macadamized thoroughfare. The Mongol Emperor was mindful of his army because the success of campaigns to annex the world west of his seat of power depended greatly on the…

“Do you think we will make it?” I asked Anil Pandeyji as we began to see Lucknow’s building blocks from the Tata truck driver’s cabin. I was concerned with the possibility of being stranded for more than 12 hours — half a day in a 24-cycle! …

Twelve hours and six meetings in the congested Cyber capital of India. Some inside residence. Some in an upmarket coffee shop. Some in the chamber of a judge. Some inside a petrol pump. Some on the roadside. Some inside canteen in a crowded government office complex. Mind you, and not…

“Are you sure you want to shake hands with them?” demanded Dr. Vijay Pawar, CSR coordinator for Mahindra Logistics, while entering the Nasik District Hospital on a rain-hit July 2013 morning. I nodded.

The night before, we landed in Bengaluru on a chilly, drizzling November morning by 22692 Nizamuddin Bangalore City Rajdhani Express, we were concerned about conducting our morning ablutions the next day. Should we book into some Oyo outfit before jumping into the Innova for the day-long meetings? Or what? Our…

With one look at the jacket, I am sure it will pull Singapore Ramesh Narasimhan (my distant relative) back by 18 years: January 5, 2004. That day, I presume NR presented this volume of double books of John Grisham to the late Ch. …

It was a short trip (21–25 November 2022). But the most hectic and fruitful tour to further the cause of truck drivers. All taqawat (tiredness/fatigue) seems to be nowhere in sight as I unbundle my holdall and try to hit the bed. No way. What a huge reservoir of wisdom…

The past midnight commotion inside A5 of 22692 Nizamuddin Bengaluru Rajdhani Express was unexpected, though not unique. Half a dozen educated women fought over space for their luggage, disturbing the tranquility of the packed compartment. They boarded at Gwalior, heading for Itarsi. For 15 minutes, they brought the ceiling down…

First things first. Bhavika Asnani is a poor eater. Like a squirrel, she nibbles. Proper eating, no. Twenty-four hours earlier, we debated whether to meet over breakfast or lunch. We were poles apart in the sense she was in Pitampura and I in Greater Noida, say, a distance of 55km…