My guru has departed
E ver since my columns started appearing in The Hindustan Times and The Tribune, I began receiving learned comments from Deepak Tandon of Panchkula (Haryana). They were neatly typed, erudite and worth preserving. I valued his letters and preserved them to be able to re-read them when I desired. A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from S. Chaudhry, Principal of DAV College Pehowa, informing me that Professor Deepak Tandon, whom I called my Guru, had died. He further informed me that Deepak Tandon was born in November 1935. He was passionately fond of Urdu and English poetry. Without knowing him personally, I developed enormous respect for him and share the loss with members of his family.
A few days later went my younger brother Brigadier Gurbux Singh. He died, as I would like to, when my time comes. He died in his sleep at about midnight without suffering any pain.
SHAKES PEER
If you don’t know about Shakespeare, you don’t know the English language. He was as great a playwright as he was a poet. If you want to know more about him, I recommend “Everybody’s Shakespeare” compendiumcum-dictionary of the complete works for students, teachers and connoisseurs of languages, edited by Zamiruddin of Bhopal. It is a fat book of over 400 pages, but does give you all the information you want to know about the man and his works.
Jungle Lovers Guide Book
Earlier in this column I had written in praise of Pradip Krishan’s Trees of Delhi. Now I can’t find words to laud his latest publication Jungle Trees of Central India, A Guide for Tree Spotters (Penguin). It is an encyclopedia which provides detailed information on the subject. It should find a place in all schools, colleges, municipal libraries and also, in homes of families interested in trees. I keep it close to me to consult when I write about trees about which I know nothing. It is also profusely illustrated.
Strongly recommended.
EXPLODING TOILET
“I’m afraid to flush the toilet right now,” Michel Pierre told lawyers in Brooklyn, New York, “I’m scared and I’m in pain. The last thing I remember is pulling the handle of my pressurised flush-valve toilet, then there was a boom and the thing exploded in my face. Pieces flew all over the place. When I woke up, I was covered in blood. I now use a rope to flush my toilet from a safe distance outside the bathroom, in case it happens again. I can’t stop thinking about it every time I look at the bowl. I’m relieved I wasn’t sitting down during the flush, or it might have been even worse.”
Pierre’s lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, added that “toilets are supposed to flush, not explode. This victim is entitled to damages for the serious injuries he sustained through no fault of his own.” A lawyer for Century Management (which runs the building where the toilet exploded) told reporters that “water pressure caused a burst of air to come up through the pipe and into the toilet. It was totally unexpected, and we’re looking into whether this was preventable, or a one-time fluke. (courtesy Private Eye, London)
HANKY PANKY
Meena: Why are you looking so angry ? Shobha: You too would be angry if it happened to you. Meena: What happened ? Did someone pass some vulgar comment at you ?
Shobha: No yaar, I was strolling in the park when I noticed a tall, handsome, well-built young man walking behind me. So I deliberately dropped my hanky, hoping that he would pick it up to return it to me. I could then pick up a friendship with him.
Meena: “He didn’t pick up the hanky, isn’t it ?
Shobha: He picked it up all right. Only he turned out to be a municipal officer, and he fined me for littering.