Category: Letters to my daughters
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Letters To My Daughters: I Am Sorry
Collected in The Smudged Hyphen (2026). Dear Ammu, Pattu and, Laddu, It is November 7th 2024. I am sorry kanmanis. I am truly sorry. I wish I was there at home, to sit, sift and sort through this incredible moment in history with the three of you. I say incredible not because I think it…
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Letters To My Daughters: The Big 1-0
“What should I dream about?” Your voice still carries a trace of babyhood that is fast disappearing. Your round face wrapped in a plush hoodie, surrounded by pillows makes me want to squish you tight. I limit myself to planting a kiss on your forehead and walking away. Just as I turn out the light,…
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Letters To My Daughters: Birthdays!
Dear Ammu and Pattu, The house is quiet today, kind of like the calm before the storm. I open the packages from Amazon that line my study. I sort the gifts in two piles, one for each of you. I bag it up, discard the boxes and put the bags away to be opened by…
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Life Lessons: Friendships
I make my rounds quickly, wresting iPads from the twin’s hands, grabbing school clothes for the littlest one, clearing clothes lying on the floor and generally making my impatience felt. I plug the iPads into the charger and notice Pattu’s iPad has her messages open. Her friend has sent her something that is the equivalent…
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Letters To My Daughters: On Adulting
Collected in The Smudged Hyphen (2026). Dear kutties, My Amma bought a diamond earring for me when I was in sixth grade. My first saree happened right after school. I learned to make dosais, shred coconut, grind chutneys sometime in middle school. I could be a functional adult by the time I left home. I’d…
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Letters To My Daughters: Move On
Dear Ammu, Pattu, and Laddu, Tonight, Ammu dissolved into tears and I stood by powerless, rudderless. What happened today is not the first. It will not be the last either. It happens to all of us. People we want to be friends with don’t feel that way about us. As you stood sobbing, your eyes…
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Letters To My Daughters: Life Lessons
Collected in The Smudged Hyphen (2026). Dear Ammu, Pattu and Laddu, Over the years I have written many little notes to you. Some were on post-its that found their way to trash the next day. Some have been on my blog which talk about you at a specific age. Some are birthday wishes. Some are…
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Letters to my daughters – Books!
This summer is in its last throes. Like a last gasp before the chill steals in, the air is oppressive. The three of you are cooped up in the house. Between pretend play, a million cries of ‘I am bored’ and ‘Can we watch TV?’ we have managed to spend more than eight weeks together.…
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Letters to my daughters: Milestones
Dear Laddu, My left palm rests on the top of your head. The warmth from me seeping into you, lulling you into sleep. You smile in your sleep. I find myself mirroring you. The apples of your cheek shine with the sheen of the coconut oil I massaged into your skin. It was not too…
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The child in me
Dear Pattu, This morning after sending you off, I stomped inside the house and sat at our kitchen island massaging my temples trying to ward off the headache that has been threatening me since morning. The image of you hands on your hips, sticking your tongue at me kept playing in my head. You mirrored…