Lakshmi Iyer

Amy Coney Barrett – Emblematic Of All That Is Wrong With Adoption

I have a question about safe haven laws. You can terminate parental rights by relinquishing a child after giving birth. The cases emphasized the burden of parenting. But women don’t have to parent if they don’t want to! Why don’t safe haven laws take care of that? https://www.businessinsider.com/amy-coney-barrett-asks-safe-haven-laws-solutions-unwanted-motherhood-2021-12 Amy Coney Barrett is a mother by…

A Lot To Be Grateful For

The end of November brings with it a sense of finality about the year. It is around then that I start taking stock of the year that has been and the year ahead. It is not quite the celebratory feeling that accompanies new year’s eve. This is sober, reflective and, has a gravitas to it.…

In Conversation

Early this morning I joined Savie Karnel for a conversation on childhood friendships, nostalgia, books and, why we write. I had a lovely time with an articulate group of children. Anupama Dalmia of Beyond the Box did a fantastic job of moderating the session. The recording can be found on Beyond The Box FB page.…

#NAAM No One Size Fits All

A chance conversation with my daughters’ mother yesterday had me thinking long and hard about the past eleven years that have defined my life, my identity and, influenced my creative work. With so much focus on adoption this month surrounding NAAM (National Adoption Awareness Month), I have been a curious onlooker. Early in my life…

On Being A Mother

I waffled a long time before typing in the title. I kept typing parent, erasing, and keying in mother. Eventually, mother won out because this is just my experience and it is tied to being a mother than a parent. What’s the difference you ask? I define the difference in terms of the load I…

The Thinning Of The Veil

I stood in my tie-dye pants, this nasty woman votes tee shirt, a vampire red cape around my neck, and a black witch hat on my head by my front window in the fading light. My face was lit by the glow of my smartphone as I glanced through my feed. It was still a…

Vestiges Of Innocence

“Mom! mom!!” Her excitement is contagious as she bounds down the stairs, her smile stretching from ear to ear, her eyes wide as saucers. I have my AirPods on as I listen to a masterclass on retrograde planets. I pause the lesson and slow my pace to take in what is happening. “The tooth fairy…

We Need Diverse Books #WNDB

I pulled a card from my Smith Waite tarot deck when my youngest walked in, grumpy. “The tooth fairy did not come…” she complained. I cursed myself mentally for forgetting that her tooth had fallen out and she had written a note attaching a gift for the said fairy. I held her as she grumbled…

Direct Motion

Often as I am on trains, I am fascinated by other trains passing by and the relative motion of the two trains as experienced by me. There is usually a moment in time when one train passes another, where I feel suspended, unsure of which direction I am traveling in. This week in celestial weather,…

Into The Heart Of The Sun

Each new moon, the moon is literally reborn as it crosses the heart of the Sun and emerges as a baby moon, growing into fullness. The cycle repeats endlessly over time giving rise to the notion of New Moons as seeds that are planted that culminate at the Full Moon. Just like the moon, each…

November Is Coming

Early this morning, I showered and got ready in record time for a couple of my friends to come pick me up. We were headed to a fundraising event by the newly launched Empower PAC to support our local candidates. One friend was delivering a speech, another was running for office. I was excited for…

The Gift Of Timelessness

I begin most days with cooking prep followed by a sort of brisk walk around my home as I listen to podcasts on the YouTube app. My playlist is filled with astrologers. Some are quick takes on mundane astrology, weighing in on the pressing news of the moment. Some are rambling philosophical takes on the…

Everyday Anxieties

I wake up with the alarm, I realize two of my three girls are in bed with me. I push the youngest away, cover her back up with the quilt and sleepwalk my way to the bathroom. In an hour, the coffee pot is half over, idlis steamed, cut, smothered in molaga podi, and packed…

Retrograde Season

Retrograde season is on us. Five of the current planets in the sky are retrograde now. Mercury joins this list the end of September and walks back its path before moving forward again in November. We have enough Mercury retrograde memes that it makes me think that it is socially acceptable to talk about it.…

Local Schools In The News

Politics is local, it is personal. I am happy that national media is turning its attention to local school board races that will have an impact on the upcoming national elections. I was quoted in this article with a local friend.

Journeying Home

I have not been posting as much as I once did. It is not for lack of things to say. On any given day my head is churning with thoughts – some radical, some mundane and, a few personal. I even type them out but pause before I hit publish. When I started this blog,…

Ghost Grief

Early today, we received news of a close family member passing. The shock had us silent. We sat in the quiet, each of us processing our feelings in our head. A while later, we reached out to extended family saying words that sounded cliched yet, words we meant with every bit of our hearts. We…

Counting Down To School

“Two more days before school starts!” My youngest literally springs down the steps two at a time, her energy too bright for the morning. I am yet to have my coffee. I am grumpy. “One more day…” I correct her. “We are already on Saturday. One more day and you start school the following day.”…

Lines – Hard Or Soft?

The past few weeks have been eye-opening for me personally. I have put myself in rooms where I am not comfortable, rooms where at times, I have worried for my physical safety, rooms which I left with my heart quaking, arms and legs shaking. The words I heard in these rooms rudely brought me to…

Speaking Up

Over the past month, I have been participating in our local school board meetings. The experience has been anxiety-inducing and scary. The first time around my hands and legs were shaky, my voice tremulous. This time, I went with notes. I had trouble reading and facing the board. My hands still shook but it was…

Checking in

Hello friends, It’s been a while since I checked in here. It is not because I have run out of things to say. On the contrary, I have way too much on my mind and worry I might leave thoughts that are temporary to exist in perpetuity. As someone who identifies as a blogger, this…