Category: Life
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On Politics, Liberalism And Being A Snowflake
The year was 2000. I filed my first tax return. I think I was owed money from the government. I am not sure but I did not follow-up or deem it worth my time to find out. I was young, unencumbered and singularly apolitical. In the few years I had been eligible to vote, I…
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Adulting
I walk in the cold morning air cognizant of the fact that Laddu is in her carseat and probably straining to get out. I grab the empty recycle bin and hear a sound that make me whip around. Ammu is visibly sobbing and running toward me. The time is 8:16 AM. We run, the two…
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In Limbo
It is past 9:30 AM. Kids are in school, the kitchen is as clean as I can muster energy for, the laundry is done and I am showered and ready with nowhere to go. I walk around the home mentally going over the list of people I could call. I give up and put the…
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Paying Tributes Over Time and Space
I eye the phone longingly. My fingers itch to dial Amma’s cell phone number but I desist. I can picture my family this morning. All of my dad’s siblings and their spouses gathered to observe the yearly anniversary of my Thatha’s passing. I imagine the kitchen busy, bustling. I can almost see my aunts and…
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Embracing The Otherness
I sit on a chair Ammu on my lap, her cheek pressed to mine, nuzzling as if in want of reassurance. I squirm and hug her tight before trying to dislodge her from me. We are in front of the twins’ class. Over twenty children and two teachers are looking at me expectantly. I clear…
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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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A Good Parent
The timer on the microwave went off signaling it was time for me to leave. I turned the stove off shouting a thousand instructions at the kids, the spouse and my mom as I left. I opted to take the longer, winding back roads to the kid’s school. The radio was on and the ethics…
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Sisters, Forever.
They sit side by side, their blonde locks sticking up with the static in the air. They leave a trail of hats, winter jackets, gloves and scarfs from the door to the kitchen. I lay their school bags between them and me, a buffer that gives me time to really wake from my nap and…
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Of Family Reunions And Impossible Hope
We flew out on Christmas Eve, the five of us, to Florida for a family reunion. One that had been months in planning. One that we had said we wouldn’t join. We left home at 3:30 PM for a 7:30 PM flight. We reached our gate two hours early and then found that the flight…
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The In-Between Kind Of Love
It exists, this love between us, in the seconds you pause before you reply to me. It tells me you give weight to my words, consider them as you answer. It exists, in the lift of your head, as you raise your eyes to meet mine, in the middle of chaos before the school bus…