The choice
She looked longingly at my cupboard and said, “Can you lend me a salwar kameez which you don’t wear often?” I had never ever seen my mother in a salwar kameez as far as I could remember.…
Vikas redefined
We are in the Pathology practical hall in the medical college. It is a room with long green platforms, designated work stations and several stools. There are sinks to conduct your experiments with bunsen burners near some…
Normalizing misogyny
It was a big moment for us. President Kalam was visiting our institute. He was someone everyone admired. A lot of work needed to be done the week before he arrived. An Open House with students was…
The eye of the pathologist
There are things which come with the territory. And others which you are trained for. Being a histopathologist is one such territory. You are taught to observe. And observe carefully. See what does not appear normal. And…
The other women
I have several sautans. To those unfamiliar with Hindi, sautan means ‘the other wife’ or ‘the husband’s mistress’. So yes, I have to deal with these vixens who distract my husband’s attention so much that my existence…
Welcoming hearts and hearths
That vacation, we kids were told to clean and vacate our rooms as we had guests coming over. It was a familiar dictat. We lived in a two-bedroom house. Every time guests came over, the children would…
A study in contrasts
Both my grandmothers were poles apart. Nani and Dadi. My last memory of seeing them must have been when I was around thirteen. Then we lived in Pondicherry, a lovely coastal town which used to be a…
Memories of another day
Facebook has this feature called ‘Memories’. It is a feature which gives you great learning. Every morning it pops up something which was posted on your timeline on the same date, several years ago. It shows you…
Scorching times ahead
It has been a rather harsh summer. The earth is parched. We hear that wells are drying. We now get restricted water supply at fixed timings. Three hours in the morning and three in the evening. Summers…
