A grandmother we all know
She is half asleep. Her dentures are immersed in a glass of water. Her earpiece and spectacles are placed on the side table. You can’t take your eyes off her, as her quivering lips inflate and deflate…
On the tiger trail in Tadoba
Tadoba is Maharashtra’s oldest and largest national park. I had lived on the edge of the Tadoba forest for over six years of my life. The magazine area of the ordnance factory campus where we lived, was…
Winter special treats
As children growing up in Pondicherry, we hardly owned any sweaters. I distinctly remember 1984 when Dad was transferred to Chandrapur in autumn. The first winter caught us unawares and there was a rush to buy navy…
The cacophonous red-naped ibis
Since the new year, every dawn, I hear a series of loud cacophonic screams near my house. These begin as harsh squealing sounds and then get louder almost to the extent of trumpeting. And I know who…
Ungodly motives
Are we all equal in the eyes of our Gods? Apparently yes. (S)He is supposed to be omnipotent and benevolent, irrespective of whatever your faith is. But does this God care if you are a man or…
Kader Khan: A life that went unsung
I was in school when I saw this film. But the visuals are imprinted on my mind. A foggy graveyard. A little boy crying over his mother’s grave. A fakir arrives and asks the lad about his…
What you do today…
“How can you oversleep on first January? You will sleep throughout the year!” I can almost hear my mother shaking me awake today, as I try to grab a few more winks snuggled under my razaai. I…
The joys of blogging
This is my 200th blog post. I started blogging in May this year— egged on by friends and readers on Facebook to compile all that I was posting there in one place. I resisted at first. Then…
Andhadhun: A script to die for
There were two dilemmas while deciding to write about Andhadhun. First, I was very busy travelling when the film released in November. And until it showed up on Netflix I didn’t get a chance to view it.…
A day trip to Annecy
Annecy is an alpine town which lies in south-eastern France. My husband was in Geneva for a meeting and I took a day trip all by myself to visit this picturesque town. Annecy is sometimes called “Pearl…
