'As it coiled around the stick and the gardener started to walk out, our house help kept reminding him about the fact that Russell's Vipers jump and can jump towards you.'
Mental health and life coach Anu Krishna offers advice on how to take control of your life.
Top officials said asking employees other than the fund management team to mandatorily invest a fifth of their salary goes against the principle of natural justice.
Olga Tellis, a legend in Indian journalism, completes 50 years as a reporter this year. A no-nonsense journalist whom politicians and officialdom took on at their peril, Ms Tellis has always been known as a hard-as-nails scribe who would ferret out the truth at any cost.
'You just make the bureaucracy honest and make them function with integrity.' 'Everything will be taken care of after that.' 'But this Mission Karmayogi does not even mention these two words -- honesty and integrity.'
'Many theories are doing the rounds on how to declare unaccounted income.'
'One of the more interesting ideas I have heard,' says Harsh Roongta, 'is that the tax payer can state that he found the currency notes in a bag on the street.'
'The children of today see Bollywood heroines dancing to item numbers in clingy georgette saris with bright gold machine embroidery.' 'To them, the Sambalpuri saris look and feel like shapeless, dull sacks.' 'The tragedy of the weaver isn't that he doesn't get enough respect and understanding from people like us,' says Geetanjali Krishna.
The other day I did a small gig on what a real estate agent says and how you should interpret it... today it is the turn of the insurance agent. :-)
'How many Indian parents, still alive, really have documents of, their parents's date and place of birth? Not more than 27% of still alive Indians have got birth certificates,' points out Mohammad Sajjad.
'Mental health experts are concerned because when you see so much negativity, even if it is confined to social media, your perceptions change.' 'You begin to feel that the real world is also this way.' 'And the sense of optimism and positivity -- traits that build resilience and wellbeing, both physical and mental -- begins to slip away,' warns Veenu Sandhu.
We import from China not because we love China, but because they sell us these things at cheap prices, points out Rathin Roy.
But for the PM's decision, my teenage daughter, a child of the post-economic reforms generation, could never have imagined the Socialist India that remains so much a part of my growing up years, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Chronic fatigue syndrome may have its origin in your gut, says Nikita Puri.
'Much as I have been enjoying the anti-GST jokes on WhatsApp and also worrying about the economy in a tailspin in more serious moments, there is a tiny part of me that is thankful to Modi and Jaitley,' notes Keya Sarkar.
When she told me her story, I realised that one man's meat is another man's poison.
What if the digital records of a food delivery service are leaked? What if a tech-savvy gaurakshak scans those records and discovers who the beef-eaters are? What happens next? Devangshu Datta highlights the risks posed by leaks of digital databases.
'She's looking around her and seeing things, having actual conversations in real life, is more aware of the heat and the humidity, and is actually eating her food instead of first photographing and tagging it,' says Kishore Singh.
'The arrests of Sanatan Sanstha members for committing murder and stockpiling explosives with the alleged intent of committing mass murder must be embarrassing to a majoritarian government,' notes Devangshu Datta.
'Incompetent dynasts can lead to national ruin,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Delhi-based Riticka Srivastav is bringing a smile on people's faces with her second-hand books.
Economist Deepak Nayyar says economic openness, while necessary, is not sufficient, and is conducive to development only when combined with industrial policy.
Just a few weeks ago, the Centre has come out with the long-awaited Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, which have drawn a dismayed response from the companies concerned.
'What steps have the higher level of political leadership taken to remove corruption from the system and bring in honest governance?'
The title alludes to Socrates willingly drinking poisonous hemlock as his punishment after he was convicted of corrupting the minds of the young and impiety in ancient Athens.
'It goes without saying that Air India has now no imaginable reason to exist.'
'Across several colleges and universities, the story is the same.' 'Generous timings for boys, early deadlines for girls,' says Veenu Sandhu.
'The Republic is currently captained and crewed by people who seem interested in the safety and well being of only a select kind of passenger, advising the rest to swim for Pakistan,' points out Mitali Saran.
Happy retirees are the ones who have planned well in advance
Agnimitra Paul remembers Sridevi, her mentor in Bollywood.
CRPF troopers confront loneliness, poor network connectivity, poor work conditions, dismal work-life balance, and immense psychological stress.
Every cog in the wheel must present its unique services at the moment of instructed haste, says Vikram Johri.
'While people complain of the difficulties they are experiencing because of the lack of currency, they remain supportive so far of Mr Modi's initiative.' 'What the country should be concerned about is the prospect of a prime minister who is willing to sacrifice economic gain and risk large-scale job losses in exchange for personal popularity,'
No one is right all the times. Recognising the market signals is a very important part of your portfolio creation, says P V Subramanyam
Not only do Modi and Trump's personalities overshadow the high offices they hold, the way they attack people and speak are very similar, observes Karan Thapar.
The Indian State does not believe in the rule of law. It does not even recognise the need to follow treaties that it itself signed. And so it is refusing to shell out to Cairn; and, as a consequence, has brought on the Paris humiliation, notes Mihir S Sharma.
'With the appeal of both the Left and the Congress fading, Banerjee fears the saffron brigade's inroads into her citadel,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'Clearly, no hero can become one without a loyal and unquestioning set of followers.' 'But how does one deal with them once their purpose is served?' asks Arundhuti Dasgupta.
'The deeper problem is big government -- a giant monster with a giant appetite, which requires it to put more and more pressure on tax officials to extort. 'And the monster is getting bigger by the day. But then, Mr Modi too knows this,' says Debashis Basu.
Many scholars have suggested that the importance of the cow and her association with the pantheon grew with the growing influence of the cult of Krishna,' says Arundhuti Dasgupta.
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