Category: Personal
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You Are Not Alone
“What is on your mind?” exhorts Facebook when I turn to my phone in a moment of despair “Craptastic (pun intended)” I type and then backspace, watching each letter and my life disappear into an unseen void. My fingers are smudged with dosa batter drying into a white powder that flakes off as my hands…
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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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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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Growing Up
“I am off to read my book…” She waves the book in her hand as I look quizically. My maternal instincts are screaming something is off. “Are you taking the iPad with you?” I ask, eyes scanning for evidence. She holds out her hands which hold the hard bound copy of Charlotte’s Web. I smile,…
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Spice And All Things Nice
“Ooookay,” she says in a sing song voice and toddles upstairs to help her dad find his belt. Relieved for a moment’s respite from her at the stove, I turn my attention to fixing lunch and getting the twins ready for school. They leave and their daddy right after them. Laddu and I stand by…
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Right here. Right now.
The baby swing in the back yard sways in the breeze. I notice Ammu and Pattu in my peripheral vision trying to dislodge a ‘popsicle’ from the faucet on the outside of the house. It is bitterly cold. My nose burns. I feel alive. I glance absently at the stretch of road visible from my…
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Heart over head
The leaves rustled and swirled in the wake of the car before me. As they settled into myriad patterns, I drove past leaving them swirling again. The sunlight streamed through the windshield, the leaves came floating down. Shades of yellow, orange and red. On a different day, I would have been struck by its beauty.…