Category: Happiness
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Vignettes
My watch shows 3:57:03. I should be in the study anxiously poring over my presentation one last time. Instead, butterflies in my stomach I watch through the window as the school bus rolls past our home. Just as I am to turn and walk away, I notice my Amma looking diminutive from the other side…
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Milestone: Ten Years Old
Pattu bounds down the stairs each morning, a full hour before her sister Ammu wakes. Some days she hugs me around the middle. Some days, she sits at the island waiting for her dad to wake and give her company as she brushes. Our early morning conversations are limited but a growing reminder of how…
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Epiphany: You Hold The Keys In Your Hand
Amma and I are on the phone. “In our entire extended family, whom do you think is the most successful,” I ask. “What do you mean? In what sense?” she counters. “Whatever is your parameter for success,” I say and wait patiently for her to reply. I can almost hear her mental wheels spinning. She…
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Like A Yo-yo
She rolls to and from me like a yo-yo, the weight of her body propelling her first one way and then another. I clutch at her something fierce and let go with just the same vigor. We are on the bed, Laddu and I. It has been a month since she has given up her…
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Coffee And Conversations
She walks down rapidly, a speed that belies what time it is. Her face is scrubbed, a hint of damp from washing her face and drying it. Her fingers are cold as they reach for my arm. Her lips are deliciously chill as they land on my cheek. “Good Morning Amma!” Pattu exclaims as she…
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On kids, growing up and gratitude
I stand on the stoop, Laddu in my arms, the fall air refreshingly crisp. Ammu and Pattu walk along the pavement, their strides keeping pace, their arms gesticulating wildly as they make their way to the bus stop. I stand watching till the bus leaves and I head back inside. Laddu demands to be set down…
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Bad Days. Good Days.
Laddu and I stand by the dining room window looking out. Ammu and Pattu walk home, their backpacks bouncing on their back. Their fine hair moves with the breeze. In identical rompers, they sprint the last few yards home. I am now by the door to the garage, waiting with a smile. “I had a…
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Cards, kisses and a whole lot of love
The house is quiet. The kids are in bed. Saathi is on the highway somewhere returning home from his first ever US Open visit. A few months ago, when he broached the subject of going to watch the Open with friends, I jumped at the idea. He was taken aback. I laughed as I told…
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Pockets of happiness
Happiness or sorrow – whatever befalls you, walk on, untouched, unattached. – Buddha
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Space in the middle
We savor each moment. We look at the horizon together, our hands linked by the little ones in between.