Musings Of A Military Mind

Take a peek into the “puntastic” (as one of the readers described the Musings of this Military Mind) collection of articles, anecdotes and topical commentary of global events. The range is huge starting from the US Presidential Elections and Covid 19 to the training regimen of the cadets in the Defence Academies. The author has captured his ruminations in a lucid and simple story narrative. “The Trump Card” The Trump(ets) of the world have heaved a sigh of relief after four years of having been blown non-stop, no wonder all that they produced these days was " Vivekamunandan..." When they were queried on their misery, they responded tongue in cheek that "They were 'biden' their time". “Independence Day the NDA Way” 2475 ft. was one of the peaks of the small hills in Khadakwasla. Why was it called 2475? No one knows. The actual height was probably a couple of feet less. Corporal then explained the modus operandi of the day's climb; we had to front roll up the slope...? Now this was turning out to be literally a bolt from the blue... a royal kick in the derriere provided the much needed booster. So began our very own freedom struggle, we the wretched second and third termers… the very lowly creatures in the food chain bore the brunt. “Oh those Bats” Apart from the social distancing, lockdowns and migrant labours, cricketers and baseball players are up in arms; they have asked for a change in the nomenclature of their “Bats”, they would not like to touch anything so vile in their wildest imagination. “Ode to NDA Masters” "Giving meaningful looks!” was how the charge read, forwarded by Dr (Mrs) SK Singh; the cadet was summoned to the squadron office and questioned. He was punished to be sent on liberty to Pune next Sunday to leave the instructor in question alone... “Quarantined” Covid 19 after all is a teen, adolescent, neither an adult nor a kid, quite confused, not taken seriously by the Americans nor by the Chinese. He is out to prove a point. How I wish the Chinks had waited for two more months before letting it lose, then it would have been christened Covid 20 and would probably have been more reasonable. “A Close Shave” Today's youngsters are all Virat Kohli look alikes... clones, same bearded chins with hardly any clean cut faces. I wonder why this reverse evolution has commenced in the men folk, where they have got so entangled in the facial hair that they have messed up Darwin's treatise itself. At this rate, soon they should be growing their vestigial tails on their derriere! “Close Encounters of the Hairy Kind(!)” The reason why we start to dread the visit to the saloon may be a matter of research. But to me it appears as though the blame lies squarely with our age old ‘samskaras’, ‘mundan’ as we all are aware, is our first introduction with this species of barbers or hair dressers, as they are addressed these days. Naturally after the ignominy of making a public spectacle of being shorn of one’s precious locks, the relations with the barbers were destined to be acrimonious.

'Maverick's Musings' starts with a tender tribute to a soul-mate. The young officer (YO) who had wooed and won the heart of a girl from an alien land shares his 'Jab We Met' (when we met!) moments of 1958. There was little in common between them except their humanity and core values of two ancient civilisations. They overcame impossible odds to create a relationship that lasted for 55 years. It is a heartwarming story that triggers emotions at a deeper level. The 'episodic' narrative then follows a linear timeline. It runs on two intertwined tracks. The personal thread follows his life from infancy to an awkward adolescence. Fortunately he finds a more confident life partner. The Greek girl uproots herself in pursuit of love and finds a new family in the warm folds of Indian military-life. Their life together matures into a well-rounded family. On the professional track the YO becomes a General in 30 years, after a series of trials and triumphs. The challenges include a resignation, a traumatic war injury, some sadistic seniors, a cadet's suicide and so on. He survives and succeeds. The family goes through phases of agony and ecstasy. Their ability to roll with the punches lies in their inner strength which this narrative shows in flashes- that source may be explored later!

Hailed by David Sedaris as "perfectly, relentlessly funny" and by Colson Whitehead as "sardonic without being cruel, tender without being sentimental," from the author of the new collection Look Alive Out There. Wry, hilarious, and profoundly genuine, this debut collection of literary essays is a celebration of fallibility and haplessness in all their glory. From despoiling an exhibit at the Natural History Museum to provoking the ire of her first boss to siccing the cops on her mysterious neighbor, Crosley can do no right despite the best of intentions -- or perhaps because of them. Together, these essays create a startlingly funny and revealing portrait of a complex and utterly recognizable character who aims for the stars but hits the ceiling, and the inimitable city that has helped shape who she is. I Was Told There'd Be Cake introduces a strikingly original voice, chronicling the struggles and unexpected beauty of modern urban life.

Whether enemy or ally, demon or god, the source of satisfaction or the root of all earthly troubles, the penis has forced humanity to wrestle with its enduring mysteries. Here, in an enlightening and entertaining cultural study, is a book that gives context to the central role of the penis in Western civilization. A man can hold his manhood in his hand, but who is really gripping whom? Is the penis the best in man -- or the beast? How is man supposed to use it? And when does that use become abuse? Of all the bodily organs, only the penis forces man to confront such contradictions: something insistent yet reluctant, a tool that creates but also destroys, a part of the body that often seems apart from the body. This is the conundrum that makes the penis both hero and villain in a drama that shapes every man -- and mankind along with it. In A Mind of Its Own, David M. Friedman shows that the penis is more than a body part. It is an idea, a conceptual but flesh-and-blood measuring stick of man's place in the world. That men have a penis is a scientific fact; how they think about it, feel about it, and use it is not. It is possible to identify the key moments in Western history when a new idea of the penis addressed the larger mystery of man's relationship with it and changed forever the way that organ was conceived of and put to use. A Mind of Its Own brilliantly distills this complex and largely unexamined story. Deified by the pagan cultures of the ancient world and demonized by the early Roman church, the organ was later secularized by pioneering anatomists such as Leonardo da Vinci. After being measured "scientifically" in an effort to subjugate some races while elevating others, the organ was psychoanalyzed by Sigmund Freud. As a result, the penis assumed a paradigmatic role in psychology -- whether the patient was equipped with the organ or envied those who were. Now, after being politicized by feminism and exploited in countless ways by pop culture, the penis has been medicalized. As no one has before him, Friedman shows how the arrival of erection industry products such as Viagra is more than a health or business story. It is the latest -- and perhaps final -- chapter in one of the longest sagas in human history: the story of man's relationship with his penis. A Mind of Its Own charts the vicissitudes of that relationship through its often amusing, occasionally alarming, and never boring course. With intellectual rigor and a healthy dose of wry humor, David M. Friedman serves up one of the most thought-provoking, significant, and readable cultural works in years.

Ellen Bannister is a moderately successful editor with a lackluster life. Several years after the sudden death of her charismatic, well-loved brother, John, she continues to struggle through life, trying to find meaning and purpose in her quiet, unexciting existence. Out of the blue, she receives a mysterious and intimate letter from an elderly apple farmer in upstate New York, prompting her to relive the day she learned of Johns death. When a second letter arrives from the farmer, she realizes that she has been given an invitation to engagean opportunity to test her brothers theories on life. The unexpected friendship that develops between her and the farmer gives her the courage to explore a life she never imagined for herself, and she finds the resilience to take a risk with his fiery-natured son. The premature loss of a brother or sister, a relationship that is expected to be one of the longest of your life, is a loss that is deeply felt but seldom explored. The Musings of a Mystery Sibling, a love story on many levels, does just that. Musings of a Mystery Sibling received an Honorable Mention Award in the 19th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards. Judge's commentary: "Engaging opening--great emotional showing on the part of the narrator. The death of the brother packs a tremendous emotional wallop--very skillfully executed. Excellent selection of words and wise choices for an elevating reading experience."

An Egyptian woman's reflections on her changing homeland—updated with an afterword on the Arab Spring In language that vividly evokes the lush summers of Cairo and the stark beauty of the Arabian desert, Leila Ahmed movingly recounts her Egyptian childhood growing up in a rich tradition of Islamic women and describes how she eventually came to terms with her identity as a feminist living in America. As a young woman in Cairo in the forties and fifties, Ahmed witnessed some of the major transformations of this century—the end of British colonialism, the rise of Arab nationalism, and the breakdown of Egypt's once multireligious society. As today's Egypt continues to undergo revolutionary change, Ahmed's inspirational story remains as poignant and relevant as ever.