BUGLE

You never know if these stories are true but this is a good one 'Watch out! You nearly broad sided that car!' My father yelled at me. 'Can't you do anything right?' Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle. 'I saw the car, Dad. Please don't yell at me when I'm driving.' My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt. Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts. Dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil. What could I do about him? Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon. He had enjoyed being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He ha...

One of my friend forwarded me a poem what has been sent by one of her student from US. She is currently engaged with some research work that relates to the most critical (!) subject at least for me- Mathematics. But that never made her to lose her taste buds for mellifluous, touchy poems. I know not who is poet but my kudos for him or her. Here it goes.............. ..I kept the right ones out And let the wrong ones in Had an angel of mercy to see me through all my sins There were times in my life When I was goin' insane Tryin' to walk through The pain When I lost my grip And I hit the floor Yeah, I thought I could leave but couldn't get out the door I was so sick and tired Of a livin' a lie I was wishin' that I Would die It's Amazing With the blink of an eye you finally see the light It's Amazing When the moment arrives that you know you'll be alright It's Amazing And I'm sayin' a prayer for the desperate hearts tonight That one last shot...

The oil price is cooling, it touched $99 per barrel and settled around $103 today. At the same time dollar is firming against INR and hoovering around Rs44-45/- per dollar band. Obviously the gain in the fall of Crude price is being off set by the appreciation of dollar for the oil importing companies (that includes all) in India. So, the concerned ministry has announced that they are not mulling any immediate reduction in oil price. In fact they are projecting how much being subsidized per liter of petrol,diesel, kerosene and LPG cylinder. What is surprising they never highlight how much direct and indirect taxes are levied on any petroleum products. Subsidy on them means just ploughing back a slice of taxes collected on them. The inflation rate has shown the symptom to take a downward trend. May be the better time is back or likely to be back in another two months. Monsoon appears to be good , though it has caused havoc in some areas causing flood or river overflowing or changing it...