BEYOND DARA

Reflections from a Life Abroad...... I grew up in a village called Chack Ahmad Yar, near the Indo- Pak border in Jammu region, in the early eighties.  I remember those peaceful Sunday mornings that signaled the beginning of my days.  Back then, I would join a ragtag gang of boys in front of the village’s small flour mill.  The flour mill of Sardar Labh Singh was our hub, a rusted outpost near the central well and the Gurdwara Sahib.  It was a place where the elders of the village would gather to share stories and discuss their daily lives.  Among those elders, there was one man, Sardar Balwant Singh, who was known to all as the village’s self-proclaimed “BBC London.”  With his booming voice and dramatic flair, he would share his prophecies of war, future battles, and world events, captivating his audience with every word.  The men would sit around him, listening intently, while some nodded along with the conviction of a true believer, while others...

  A Heartfelt Tribute, by an Indian — B. S. Dara All who fire the bullet will die by the bullet. T his isn’t just another headline in the long conflict over Kashmir. This is personal. This is Indian blood spilled on Indian soil, again. It was supposed to be a retreat, soft pine breezes, crisp skies, ponies clopping through flower-draped meadows. Baisaran Valley, a postcard vision just seven clicks from Pahalgam, had never looked more innocent. But on April 22nd, the paradise peeled its skin back and showed the world its underbelly. What followed was the bloodiest act of terrorism on Indian soil since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, twenty-six dead, more than twenty wounded, and an entire nation staring into the abyss of its own vulnerabilities. The valley became a slaughterhouse, soaked not in the blush of spring but in the thick, ugly red of fear, faith, and geopolitics gone rancid. They came like ghosts from a forgotten war. Five men, automatic rifles slung...

Writing, to me, has always felt like a journey. A quest not for fame, but for something deeper. It's like a river carving its path through the stone of existence, sometimes meandering, other times rushing toward a distant, shimmering sea. In the beginning, I believed the destination was what mattered most: success, recognition, applause. But over the years, I have learned a crucial truth: the essence of writing does not lie in the outcome, but in the journey itself. It lies in the curiosity that stirs within me, the wonder that leads me to each new word. When I was a child, English was a foreign land. Vast and intimidating. I remember, as if it were yesterday, climbing to the roof of my house in the dead of night, the world below wrapped in silence. Beneath the pale gaze of the moon, I stood against the stone wall of the parapet, trying to speak words that felt like strange, distant stars. There was no teacher to guide me. Only the wind and the wide sky, vast and forgiving. My to...

                                               Prologue     “ Leo, a paramour to both mother and her daughter?”    The horror of this duality struck her with the force of a tempest, leaving her gasping in its wake, aghast at the dual role he had so slyly played.   “ But you were involved with Laura, yet concurrently, you were hooked up with her mother too,” Daniele Luciana said, blinking back tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks, fighting hard to keep them at bay.    “It’s not entirely true, Daniele. Moreover, what I had with Laura was more than just physical. We had an understanding,” Leo tried to explain.   “ Truth is a very powerful thing, Leo. It can shatter every illusion that’s been built on lies, it has capacity to destroy every façade crafted from cunning hypocrisy” she said, hinting at the...

M arriage, a long-standing cornerstone of society, has traditionally been considered a significant milestone in an individual’s life. However, the dynamic of relationship in marriage, has seen a significant shift in the past decade as women have emerged as leaders in education and professional fields, causing a radical transformation in the social fabric surrounding marriage. Financial independence liberates individuals from dependency, challenging the outdated notion that only men should be breadwinners. In this new era, women have gained the power to choose their partners. Gender equality and a resounding feminist movement, albeit not fully realized in practice, have disrupted the old clichés of “it is on the part of men only to take the responsibility.” Historically, the concept of marriage was deeply embedded in social and religious constructs. Arranged marriages were the norm, where families played a pivotal role in selecting a spouse based on factors like social status, econo...

F or  over two decades, those familiar with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political career have witnessed its meteoric rise. Modi, a dominant force in Indian politics, has often been compared to historical figures for his strong leader ship style. Parakala P r abhakar, a renowned economist and commentator, has even described him as a "Wolf in Wolf's clothing," emphasizing his unapologetic, assertive nature. However, the recent general elections in India, the world's largest democracy, have delivered surprising results. The BJP, Modi's party, has fallen short of the majority needed to form a government independently. This outcome has stunned the fundamentalist lobby and right-wing Hindutva supporters who have championed Modi’s often controversial, anti-secular decisions, which critics argue have undermined India’s diverse and secular fabric. As Modi prepares to lead the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for a third term, he faces an u...