Category: Musings
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Unplugged Parenting: Walking, Conversations, and Embracing Moments of Joy
“Can we go on a walk?” My middle child pops into the living room where I am prone on the sofa, the lazy ceiling fan lulling me into sleep. Amma is seated across the room. I squint at the window. The sun is still pretty bright for 6:00 pm. “How about after dinner?” I suggest.…
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Embracing Teenage Years: A Parent’s Perspective
It’s 8:45 pm, typical bedtime in our home. One of my older girls pauses to fill her water bottle. She is giggly. I look askance and she spills the tea. First loves, crushes, kisses. It all comes pouring forth. I smile along with her and as we walk upstairs remind her that actions have consequences.…
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Mother. Daughter. Mother.
“Skipping time” Amma calls out to my prepubescent youngest child who is upstairs talking to a friend over Facetime. I am in the kitchen doing dishes, amused by the interaction. I hear the sound of jumping upstairs as Laddu counts and jumps a hundred times. She is out of breath but rushes proudly to her…
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The Moon Is Beautiful – Romance Is A Bonus Book Review
The moon is beautiful, isn’t it ? Instead of “I love you”, Natsume Soseki said “The moon is beautiful”. When the author, Natsume Soseki, was a teacher, he told his student translated “I love you” into Japanese, he just translated it word-for-word, “I love you”. Since Japanese people don’t say that often, he told the…
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Pilgrimage To India
The smooth flow of cars on the highway, the towering trees flanking our roads, the ease of exit from the immigration all made me wistful. Returning from over three weeks of travel in India, the contrast was stark. We (our family of five) left to India early June. I had a spreadsheet filled with all…
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Adoption Reunion – Pain And Pleasure
“I have something for you” she says, handing a black box the size of a shoebox. My eyes widen at the gesture and I take it from her gratefully. A book lies on top under which there are layers of soft tissue paper. I gently remove each one until this gorgeous doll swathed in maroon…
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Tectonic Shifts
This week feels like how I have imagined tectonic shifts will feel. Plates sliding into each other, deep underground, sending ripples that compound out into the ocean, until meter high waves crash on the shore or mountains appear where there were once plains. This week’s shift has been years in the making. It started out…
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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…
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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…