Category: Life
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Puthandu, Pennsylvania
Tamil New Year arrives on April 14. In Tamil Nadu it is a school holiday, a temple morning, a meal that takes the whole household from sunrise to noon. Here it is a Tuesday.
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Rini Sampath and the Weight of Hyphenation
Rini Sampath’s historic candidacy for DC mayor reveals the complex weight of diaspora representation.
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Corrugation
My aching feet long for the warm water despite it being summer. I am in the shower and looking at the water cascading from the shower head when on impulse I look up. The cover that shields the plumbing from the onlookers eyes is loose. I reach up to adjust it and notice the rough…
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Behind the Camera: Crafting Our Family Story on Film
Have you ever wondered what it is like to be the subject in a documentary? Here’s your inside look.
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Discordant Time
“We made a TikTok on my friends account but don’t worry we didn’t show our faces” I am walking around my home sipping on coffee when I see the text. My youngest also sends the said video. I watch it not quite sure what to expect. It is cute. The music is preppy and the…
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Preserving Individual Joy
The past Tuesday, a woman I have met a few times and connect with over a common love for Korean shows and music messaged me to commiserate on not being unable to go to a Seventeen concert because we had not thought it possible. One thing led to another and by mid-afternoon I had overpriced…
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Woman-ing In Menopause
I stand at the bottom of the flight of stairs, the task seeming unsurmountable. My heel screams in pain when I put my weight on it. I trudge upstairs, stopping in the middle to take stock of this life, this moment. I stare into the mirror moments later looking at myself critically. My face is…
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A Good Word
Jimin’s Like Crazy crooned in my ear as I walked this morning. My youngest sat on the sofa earnestly playing some game on her phone. Her hair was tousled, her complexion smooth. “You are beautiful!” I mouthed as I walked past. Over the course of the morning, I tried to recall the number of times…
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Letting Go – Anniversary Edition
It is that time of the year when I reflect on what the many years of partnership and marriage mean to me. My relationship with Saathi is a work in progress, one that evolves with time and circumstances. As the both of us navigate middle age and its attendant problems, it is easy to take…
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Mom – Primary Identity
“Third grade dance group”, “Bus xx group” are few of the active WhatsApp groups on my phone. I scroll through the list and barring a couple of groups that serve as a neighborhood water cooler, the rest are tangentially or directly related to my identity as mom. The messages that get traded here have to…