Besan Ka Halwa

- by Vikram Grewal (I typed this write-up over a year ago and many of you might have read it before but I would like to share it with you- again- on this platform as well...not because I think it's a great piece or anything, but because YOLO- and so does your blog*) *Not Really. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   In times of distress I search for refuge in poetry. The preparation for UPSC Civil Services Exam 2018 was a journey that needed a song that I could hum along the way. A journey that needed pointers spread across my way to assure myself that I was on the right path. It was a period in my life that needed words of inspiration on a daily basis. And I found strength in the words of Kipling:    “If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, ...

Days UnderDoubt  #1 16th March 2020 There's an ominous silence in the entire town that was a bustling centre of activity when I visited it last. We are about to have lunch at Café LehVenda (the only Cafe that is still open in the Main Bazaar at Leh) when Kanishka clicks this photo after asking me to pose- and I don't - but I sort of do. I don't remember what I was thinking at that point but I do remember making do with hot water after the cafe attendant said that they were out of Sprite. At minus 7 degrees in the noon everyone had asked for hot chocolate, but I wanted Sprite in the middle of a 'desert'. They were out of cold drink stocks (and tourists apparently). 10 of us had arrived in the non-tourist frozen-Pangong hungry-dogs season in Ladakh one day before. Sipping the hot water in a cold desert I was perhaps thinking about temperature. We'd heard a certain virus was quite fussy when it came to temperature. "Origin, symptoms, cure? Cle...

(The Absolutely True) Minute to Minute Schedule of an Officer Trainee’s Day* * subject to the vagaries of space and time. Conditions apply. --by Vikram Grewal 5:00 am - RING RING! Deliberately set ambitious Alarm. Snooze. Back to sleep. 5:20 am - Wake up. Realize that your Roommate is in the Bathroom and hence the pointlessness of your waking up. Back to sleep. 5:40 am - Wake up. Reduce the ‘to-do’ list from “Brushing, Shaving, ‘Freshing up’” to just- “Washing Face”.  5:45 am - Changing to Track Suit? No worries. You went to bed wearing it last night! 5:50 am - Check FC 94 Whatsapp group hoping against hope for a “PT has been cancelled” message. Look at the sky- you no longer relate clouds to rain. You now believe that it rains only during exams (no, Geography Optional did not teach you enough).   5:55 am - Run/ Jog/ Walk/ Crawl to Polo Ground. Occasional heaps of cow dung keep you awake. The cold winds keep telling you “Yoga le le...

Days UnderCloud  #21 19th Nov '19 When your birthday clashes with the Innovation Day at the Academy, you realise that a whole lot of free time in between classes can be utilised 'innovatively' in clicking photos- to send back to your Mother who isn't really sure if anyone's wishing her son on his special day- so much so that she gets a cake parcelled- which creates a supply pressure on the birthday boy to create demand from consumers around him. But she doesn't know that the number of incredible friends that he has made in Mussoorie make him feel like home. They shower him with best wishes, hugs, Gifts and cream and cake...lots of cake! And he sends her the pictures from the day, to which she replies: "Brush kiya na sone se pehle?" Days UnderCloud  #22 23rd-24th Nov '19 India Day. A celebration of culture, cuisine and colours of the country. An opportunity for me to take out the Kashmiri Pheran and Patha...