Pooja Sodhi's Blog
Holi, the festival of colours across the world is largely associated with Krishna, and people flock to Brijbhoomi (region commonly referred to as Braj which includes town associated with the life of young Lord Krishna) to witness the festivities. Even the songs or paintings that celebrate this colourful festival centre around this playful God. However,... Continue Reading →
Holi, the vibrant festival of colours is celebrated with gusto and merry abandonment as part of the spring season. Holi celebrations in UP (Uttar Pradesh) are not just a one day affair, but they start few days before the actual festival. Mentioned in many songs, poems and other writings, as well as depicted in the... Continue Reading →
The Age Of Pandemics 1817-1920 How They Shaped India and The World by Chinmay Tumbe is a well researched book to add to the must-read history of India that has been forgotten and ignored. A book written while the nation and the rest of the world was and still is in the grip of yet... Continue Reading →
As the year began, on one cold, rainy, and foggy morning in Del-NCR a conversation in one of the WhatsApp group caught my eye - discussing what else but weather. Someone described it as "raining cats and dogs here ... wretched weather" - and just reading those words plummeted the mood. The reply came from... Continue Reading →
They say Banarasi boli is sweet - the dialect spoken in the city. But what I miss the most is the chaat and the sweets of Banaras, and of course, the old world charm of exploring the city via its galis and gazing into the unknown across the Ganges while sitting on its ghats. Varanasi... Continue Reading →
Celebrating Diwali is not just about a religious significance, but a spiritual belief, a sense of celebration and of continuing the family traditions. The anticipation of festival is more intense with the cleaning of the home, buying new clothes and gifts for family and friends, scouting the market for diyas and new kind of lights,... Continue Reading →
At the start of Lockdown in February-March 2020 across the world, there was a huge hue and cry about scarcity of N95 and surgical masks in the market for the public. Slowly, the governments and other manufacturers geared up for the production and supply resumed. Other companies joined the fray in producing 2-3 layer cotton... Continue Reading →
Social media is abuzz with people posting photos of empty offices and their desks as they left them months back; it is with some trepidation that they are returning to the office - some because it is required and some people as an experiment. What is going to be the new normal post Covid Lockdown... Continue Reading →
I generally read 4-5 books at a time, couple of them as physical books and rest on Kindle. But the restlessness over the last 3 months during the Corona Lockdown has made this reading pile run into a dozen odd books, I have picked up serious heavy books only to abandon them in favour of... Continue Reading →
It is going to be two months of lockdown in India soon and for some of us we have already reached this milestone. Under the Covid lockdown work from home is a reality and businesses are already gearing up for this new normal. In the recent past, managers always were suspicious of employees availing work... Continue Reading →
Historical events of importance are documented not just by facts and figures but also through the human stories and visual images - whether it is the mushroom cloud photo of Nagasaki bombing during World War II or the photo of the green eyed Afghan girl in 1980s in National Geographic or closer home the black... Continue Reading →
Blessing in disguise ... this is what I hear or read around me. In the midst of not just nationwide but global Covid lockdown, people are happy to see blue skies, hearing the sounds of birds and observing the star laden night skies. But how did we come to this stage? That these natural phenomena... Continue Reading →