A Municipal Election  Atmosphere of excitement two candidates contesting a seat — both sides  confident hand-bills distributed posters pasted on walls — election manifestoes by the  candidates — canvassing for votes — even the humblest voter had his importance — appeals,  persuasions, allurements — all sorts of things employed by both the parties to capture votes —  election day itself — opening of the poll — loud-speakers rend the air —...

A Visit to an Exhibition The National Industrial Exhibition held in the National Park —  organized by the Central Government — Opened by the Prime Minister — elaborate arrangements for  visitors as well as exhibitors — hundreds of stalls — all beautifully and tastefully decorated  — stall-holders from all parts of the country — varieties of industrial products exhibited —  shawls, saris, things made of ivory, leather goods, rugs, blankets, pottery,...

Scenes at a Village Well A village well — a busy haunt of the village men and women in  the morning and in the evening. Women are there with their pitchers. It is an important  meeting-place for them. Water-carriers are also there with their vessels. Buckets are lowered  and pulled up. The wheel and axle produce a creaking noise.  Scenes at the well. Women are  drawing water and filling their pitchers....

A House on Fire One evening I had not been long in bed when I was awakened by cries of ‘Fire ! Fire !’ I at once dressed myself and hurried out of the house to see where the fire had broken out. There were many like me who, roused by the alarm, were hurrying towards the scene, and I joined them. We had hardly gone a furlong or two when...

Recollections of My Childhood My childhood was a sheltered and uneventful one …. In the evenings usually many friends came to visit father and he would relax after the tension of the day and the house would resound with his tremendous laughter. His laugh became famous in Allahabad. Sometimes I would peep at him and his friends from behind a curtain, trying to make out what these great big people said...

Prakash Singh Badal Prakash Singh Badal has been at the centre of Punjab politics for well over three decades. Most people considered him the least communal of all the Akali leaders. He was a breed apart. Moderate, pacifist, liberal were the adjectives used to describe him, that is until he too became a hard-liner in the wake of Operation Bluestar. Born on 8 December 1927, Badal was an affluent sport-loving gentleman-farmer...

A.K. Antony Votaries of clean politics there are many, but very few have the credibility that A.K. Antony has maintained in his long years in politics. This was also Antony’s main problem, though many people. As one sympathetic commentator put it many years ago, “The trouble with Mr A.K. Antony is that he wants to project his image as a saint in a business that does not allow saintliness.”  In the...

Lal Krishan Advani There is a rather pessimistic French phrase, toujours le regrets (always the regrets). In essence, no matter what you achieve, you always. tend to remember the things that went wrong with much more clarity. Lal Krishna Advani nowadays seems to convey the impression that he genuinely regrets the happenings at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. He has even gone on record to say that the demolition of the...