-
Dangerous creatures—megafauna to microbes
Our prehistoric ancestors were brave. Small bands of them stepped out of their caves into the wilderness to hunt, armed with only wooden spears, clubs, and roughly sharpened stones. They hunted no ordinary creatures—they stalked megafauna—menacing monsters several times their size and several hundred times their weight. Dangerous beasts which could kill with a sideways…
-
Blow hot blow cold
An Indian summer is here again. As temperatures soar and tempers rise; and the scramble for the AC remote begins, a deeply mystifying question raises its head again. Why are we humans not satisfied at one universal temperature? Why do some like it at a frosty 20 degrees celsius while others like it at a…
-
My Two Maids
Its ten minutes past seven, and I’ve glanced at the kitchen clock for the twentieth time. The doorbell chimes. The relief is unimaginable. For the doorbell announces the arrival of the first of my two maids. The maid in the kitchen Manisha is the senior of my two maids, and the kitchen is her…