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We are a country of 1.324 billion people (records as in 2016). Our biggest resource, as well as drawback, is our ever- growing population. In another couple of years, we will become the highest populated country in the world. Yet, if we see our country’s performance in the Olympics or any other international sporting event, we are at the bottom of the medals tally. Barring cricket and a few other sports, like badminton, tennis, shooting, kabaddi, and chess, we fare abysmally in comparison to far smaller countries. Obviously, our country lacks a systematic and focused approach towards sports and physical fitness, an approach that should start with young children. In our country, our education system is such that it stresses on academic performance above everything. Schools focus primarily on making a child academically competent and prepared for their respective board examinations, while ignoring the other aspects of his/her personality. Today, the need of the hour is to make a ...

The annual carnival of books - the International Book Fair (#Boimela) ,  just concluded in Kolkata, India. Like in previous years, this year too saw millions of people swarming the fairgrounds, browsing through stalls, searching for titles, picking up books, flipping through covers, and finally buying some. There have been many arguments that these fairs are more popular as hangout and adda zones, than as a serious destination for bibliophiles. But from what I saw, there were pretty serious book lovers thronging the fair, absorbed in browsing through shelves and shelves of books. A lot of people came for the intellectual ambience, some came for the food and entertainment, some planned family outings around it, but in the end, book sales show that book reading is far from its way out. Children and youngsters do read actual books and not just e-books. They are hooked to social media - yes, but do find solace in a good book. And middle-aged, world weary people like us find co...

Jaisalmer: Our train (Ranikhet Express) was over two hours late, and instead of 11.15 p.m., we reached Jaisalmer at the unearthly hour of 2.00 a.m. Thankfully our hotel, Wanderlust, had sent a car which brought us through the deserted roads to our destination. Even at that late hour, we were excited on glimpsing the Golden Fort or Sonar Kella. The jewel in the crown of Rajasthan, this sandy town is located at the western most tip of the state, in the midst of the Thar Desert. The gold colour of most of Jaisalmer’s havelis and edifices comes from the sandstone, which is available in plenty here. Our safari to the desert was planned the next day, followed by a folk song and dance performance by local artistes at a desert campsite. The safari on camels was both bumpy and thrilling to say the least. Unaccustomed to such ‘lively’ forms of travel, we sat precariously as the camels made the way through the rocks and sand of the desert. The keepers prodded the camels to p...

Folks, I hope you enjoyed my earlier part of the Rajasthan travelogue. It is difficult to describe the Rajasthan experience in so many words, but I am trying. Here, I present the second and last of the series of my Rajasthan travel accounts. After leaving Ranthambore, we started for Bundi, a relatively lesser known destination in the state. We were eager to see it, however, after reading glowing recommendations from the Lonely Planet. Bundi is a preferred stopover for tourists from abroad, given its quaint, unspoilt beauty. Thereafter, we covered the famous Ajmer Sharif Dargah at Ajmer, which is roughly a four hour trip from Bundi. Finally, from Ajmer, we boarded our train to the penultimate destination of our trip: Jaisalmer. Bundi: The road from Sawai Madhopur to Bundi is a rather rough one, full of potholes and narrow. We were surprised that the highway was so poorly maintained. It took us three hours to cover the distance, but the journey left our bones rattlin...