Aakash Saxena's Blog

When I first asked my father for an iPhone, he was all ears to hear the proposition. So, I told him about the fast processor, the breath-taking display, the amazing camera, the infinite number of apps and so on. He listened very attentively, never interrupting and even nodding at times.

When I was done, I asked him, ‘What do you think, dad?’

‘Sounds good. But you don’t really need it.’

All I could do was gape at him with an eye twitching.

So, what’s the big deal with iPhones and dads?

Well, if you...

It’s amazing what you can find while cleaning the attic. Sometimes, the things you never even thought existed would spring up on you. Case in point:

To,

Grown up Aakash,

Presidential Quarters of the World

26th June, 2000

First of all, let me make something very clear. I was here before you. So in a way I am elder to you. And one should obey their elders. So, you dare not take me lightly.

Never take down the Shaktiman poster from your wall. When you become the president of the world and your home wo...

HOW TO WRITE A WORTHLESS NOVEL

This is the most frequent question I get after, ‘Dude, what’s wrong with your hair?’ The awed inquisitors expect me to spell out a step-by-step guide which they would then bend and twist to suit themselves, just like a diet routine. But they are visibly let down when I tell them the actual recipe. Here’s what you need.

A desperate, single guy who is kicked out from Delhi into Ludhiana.
A stinking General Compartment of a train which is running 3 hours behind schedu...

THE GREAT INDIAN EDUCATIONAL TAMASHA

Ask an average Indian science student about what he wants to do in the future. Most often than not, the answer would be, ‘I want to do IIT.’ Ask him what he thinks about his career and he will yank his eyebrows and repeat, ‘I want to do IIT.’

For an Indian science student the journey to IIT is a heroic quest for the Holy Grail. And much like the Grail itself, they don’t understand what they are after. For them IIT is a magic castle, straight out of grandma’s...

To be honest, I am a bit disappointed. Because the day I was born, the planets didn’t align in any particular order, Delhi wasn’t going to be hit by torrential rains for another couple of years, there wasn’t any seismic activity of alarming importance and no sudden gust of wind threw open the windows of the maternity ward. The theatrics of nature were at their lowest. Seriously, I think even the doctor in the delivery room was yawning.

Really, God? Is that the welcome you had planned for me? A...

The first time I heard the ‘Jack and Jill’ rhyme, I was in prep school and I asked my teacher

a very obvious question, ‘How did Jack fell down?’ The teacher tried to bail away from it by

saying that Jack was just clumsy but somehow I just couldn’t digest it. The question kept

haunting me throughout my childhood. Something was amiss in the rhyme. Then one day, I

was having lunch with a bunch of friends at the English Dairy in CP and I accidentally spilled

water on the bill (yes, accidentally). Beho...