Warrier's blog

Speaking Tree (Economic Times, July 17, 2025) Solitude & Loneliness One need not agree with all the views aired in pieces like this. But, many of us skip such articles assuming that "this is not my cup of tea". Writers like Narayani Ganesh read and remember a lot, before putting together pieces like this. It's for us to take advantage of the balanced dish served on our table. In this column today (Speaking Tree, ET, July 17, 2025), the writer observes loneliness from different angles and digs out different perspectives of different people across time zones. When we read, what gets our attention will depend on our mood while reading and our journey so far. In my case, my thoughts wandered around my personal experience as a loner and spells of absolute loneliness I've experienced in crowds (to borrow the theme of the title of MT Vasudevan Nair's book "Aalkkoottathil Thaniye"(Alone in The Crowd). During my childhood, due to circumstances beyond our...

A piece of history* Rattanbai Petit, the wife of Muhammad Ali Jinnah Rattanbai Petit, the wife of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader behind the Pakistan Movement, was a Parsi from an aristocratic family in Bombay, with there being a 24-year age gap between the couple. She is buried in Mumbai and her descendants, the Wadias (through their daughter Dina) live in India. Rattanbai Petit (often informally called "Ruttie") was born on 20 February 1900 in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India, into the extremely affluent and well-connected Petit family that belonged to the Parsi community. She was the only daughter of the businessman Sir Dinshaw Petit, the second baronet Petit, and his wife Lady Dinabai Petit. Her paternal grandfather, Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, the first baronet, had built some of the earliest cotton mills in India. He was also a philanthropist who aided the Zoroastrians of Iran who were persecuted by the Qajars. Her brother, Fali, who later became Sir Dinshaw...

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Sunday July 6, 2025 Friends Happy Birthday to all readers having Birthday during this week. Nice Day M G Warrier A The XIV Dalai Lama The XIV Dalai Lama can be a case study in facing life's challenges. His is perhaps a miraculous survival story. Don't know what divine powers or spiritual ancestral background or his own will power helped him in travelling through the paths he created for himself bypassing several dead ends. He keeps smiling. He's able to tease bearded celebrities by pulling their beard in public and get away unhurt! Narayani Ganesh tells us* that Shanti Deva's "A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life" is his favourite book. I have today ordered a copy of the book which has just 100 plus pages. I loved Lama's assertion that "If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there's no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there's no help...

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Tuesday June 24, 2025 Friends Happy Birthday to all readers having Birthday during this week. Nice Day M G Warrier Cover Story Origins digged out* Strange but True: 1. In the 1400s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have 'the rule of thumb.' 2. Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only... Ladies Forbidden'... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language. 3. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David, Hearts - Charlemagne, Clubs -Alexander the Great, Diamonds - Julius Caesar 4. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... 'goodnight, sleep tight.' 5. It was the accepted practice in ...

Takeover by TATA was the best thing that could have happened to Air India in a worst phase in the Airline's existence. It will take a long time for Air India to recover from the shock of the present tragedy. Tatas can and will come out of the crisis sooner than most of us think...🙏

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Sunday June 15, 2025 Friends Happy Birthday to all readers having Birthday during this week. Nice Day M G Warrier A Cover Story : Silence, Please By Vathsala Jayaraman, Chennai "Guide : I welcome you all to the Niagara Falls.. These are the world's largest waterfalls, the sound intensity of the waterfall is so high, even 20 supersonic planes passing by can't be heard. Now I request the Indian ladies to keep quiet, so that we can hear the Niagara Falls...!!!" For the past two months all the Hindu temples have been celebrating their annual festivals, all noise and noise alone. AADI MONTH INTENDED FOR AMMAN FESTIVALS IS FAST APPROACHING. Our house is surrounded by 4 Amman temples on all the 4 sides. AADI WILL ARRIVE WITH NOISE nothing but NOISE. While the entire world is against noise pollution and the feasibility of low decibles, we wonder how the loud noisy tradition was being encouraged by elders and organisers o...