My girls and their cousins are snuggled up on the couch, sharing two throws between them. The lighting is muted. I am on a reclining single sofa by myself, my neck craned at an angle to watch the movie with them. Every few minutes when a significant scene occurs on screen, I am watching the […]
Read moreIdentity And Belonging
Two nights ago, I sat in a darkened room at my local library with a bunch of strangers watching a documentary on race. “I am or How Jack Became Black” by Eli Steele is one of those rare movies that catalyzes uncomfortable conversations. I stood by the small table I had set up with snacks […]
Read moreOn Air With The Takeaway
A month back I wrote about visiting the WHYY studio in Philadelphia to record a conversation with my children’s mother. We spoke about race, about what it means to share children across racial lines. Most of all, we spoke about the kind of world we want our children to inherit. The series is called Uncomfortable Truths. […]
Read moreCo-opting Words
I sat between my twins, Laddu on my knee as the opening credits for Hidden Figures rolled on the screen. Pattu jiggled her knee, a clear indication she was done waiting for the actual movie to start. I hit pause and gathered the eight-year olds close. “This is a movie for grown-ups. There is a […]
Read moreThe Birth Of A Baby: the Parent Voice,
Today, our labor of love the Parent Voice, is born. It has taken hours stolen from chores, children and the husband to bring this to fruition. It has taken the effort of many of us to create content, lay it out, tinker with it and spend anxious hours fussing about it. We have counted […]
Read moreGoing On Air With The Takeaway On NPR
It started with a simple comment on Facebook. I had shared an interview between a brother and sister on race. This was from The Takeaway on NPR. My friend suggested I should be on it. I pitched the idea that I would like to talk to my twins’ mother about race in the context of […]
Read moreWaking Up
The study door is locked. I have my earphones on. The house is eerily silent. My phone rings and for a second my heart stops. My “Hello!” is tentative as I wait for the voice on the other end. We talk for over forty-five minutes. My children’s mother, one of The Takeaway’s producers Dana Roberson […]
Read moreOf Standing In Judgement
A couple of days back, we sat as a family at the dinner table passing rotis and subzi and talking about our day when Pattu decided to show us her newfound trick of drinking water from a tumbler without touching it to her lips. We were suitably awed and I quipped “you have earned your […]
Read moreOn Privilege, Race And Unpacking Cultural Legacies
Late one night this week, I stood at my doorway waving my friends good bye. There was a bite in the air and a breeze that made me long for a warm wrap and perhaps a hot cup of tea. The clock showed a little past eleven. I turned the porch lights out and made […]
Read moreEverything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
A book club I am part of picked this book for our next meeting. I was thrilled as it was on my TBR pile. Also, I follow @CelesteNg and love her take on most things related to race and diversity. I read the blurbs, the front and back cover synopsis and settled myself comfortably with […]
Read moreMusings On Adoption
I am Indian and American, they say proudly when we talk about either country. I wonder if I should correct them and let it be. Often while checking boxes on race and ethnicity, I pause, not sure what they mean really. Read the rest of the post on The Huffington Post.
Read moreBirds of a feather flock together
On why we tend to seek people who are like us.
Read moreColored thoughts
Last evening I sat down for dinner with an old friend by huge glass windows that overlooked the patio of the eatery we were at. Unfolding her napkin gently, she laid it across her lap and nibbled on her dinner. I dug in with gusto punctuating my conversation with references to the momentous route K and […]
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