My pehli Diwali
We were still in that awkward phase, where we weighed our words before we spoke to each other. You never knew what the reaction to them might be, and you tread gently, still discovering each other. Arranged…
Death is real
Sometimes words simply dry up. When life hands you one disaster after another. It is like being battered so badly that you don’t even bother with tears. You turn numb. The mind freezes. Logic flies out of…
The Sa-Sha-Sh Conundrum
I often wonder what makes parents decide the names of their children. Our parents named the three of us- Anshu, Manish and Ashish. Now there is nothing wrong with that. In fact when you say the names…
The meaning of freedom
The main road near my house has been dug up for major repair work. Vehicles have to navigate trepidatiously as only half the narrow road is available for movement. It is expected to take almost four months…
Never say never
As a child I detested dahi (curds). I used to eat dahi but something happened which put this food item off my list of edible things. One afternoon after school, as I was eating off my Dad’s…
She never called me Kanniya
Three days into my wedding, sitting in the bedroom, I overheard a furore in the kitchen. It was an anxious phase for me. I was still getting used to a strange new culture and tradition in a…
To pee or not to pee
It was a Sunday, but I had pending work piled up. So I decided to spend the morning in the office finishing off some work. At noon, as I exited the department, I noticed two middle-aged women…
And the heavens open up
I wake up before dawn as the lunch boxes have to be packed. As I am rolling out the phulkas, I hear a different bird song. It is a song that I haven’t heard since a year,…
Of mobs and herds
This is an anecdote narrated to me by my friend several years ago. But it has stayed with me for what it taught me. My friend was on her way to school with her sister on her…
