Recently, I had gone to Pune, where my daughter just relocated to pursue her graduation. My first action was to try and get her a mobile phone—of the prepaid variety. Every service-provider refused to accept either a college identity card or my driving licence (with a Chennai address) as a supporting document for ‘proof of identity’. They wanted her to produce an address proof of Pune only....

Sometimes, railways are a better alternative to air travel, says a newlyconverted rail traveller Veeresh Malik

Last week, I travelled from New Delhi to Lucknow and back on the Swarna Shatabdi Express, on one way, and the New Delhi-Lucknow Non-Stop Special, on the other. The trains left and arrived at both ends spot on time, city-centre to city-centre. The stations were reasonably clean as...