Category: reflections
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Gifts of time and cognizance
Tis that time of the year again when air waves abound with talk of gratitude. Of thankfulness. Every year as we count down to the new year, I reflect on the months past. On the peaks and valleys in my life. I review and relive the good and the bad. Well! the good mostly. This…
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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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Sleeping child
I hold her close to my bosom, her even breathing feeling warm and precious as we stay cocooned in the rocking chair as the fan whirrs overhead. The room is dark, the blinds filtering the sunless daylight from behind the clouds. I run my fingers through her curly hair untangling and separating the strands. I…
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Warning: Hurt feelings ahead
“If you hurt my feelings one more time…” Pattu looks at Ammu with threatening eyes. Ammu replies hardly looking up from her coloring book “I hurt your feelings already. I hurt you first!” Saathi and I grin across the dining table and file these conversations to retold and enjoyed years later. My mind however is…
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Change of guard
I stand by the foot board of the bed, a pile of much used, well-loved clothes on the rocker before me. The sounds of raucous laughter echo off the bathroom walls where the kids are in the shower. I fold each piece slowly, lovingly. Each PJ, tee, pant and dress tells a story. Of many…
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The Things We Treasure
Few things are in my possession that I treasure. Over the years, it has been books, mementoes from childhood. With every move a few have been lost, misplaced or given away. Some things, however, come into our lives and transform it. The year was 2005. It was mid October. The season when leaves fall, trees…
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Unexpected discoveries: Finding myself
I cut the conversation short. I feel relief as I continue loading the dishes. The disenchantment I feel is typed away in 140 characters or less but I refrain from hitting post. The picture of all three of my daughters in one frame begs me to upload to Facebook, but I demur. I look at…
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Nostalgia
Dusty. The tar roads felt soft to my flip-flops as I walked to the house for the first time. The summer heat scorched the city when we moved from cooler, less humid climes there. It was a modest house. I remember lying awake at night as the rain pelted the windows and listening to frogs…
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Pebbles in the sands of time
I stand by the bathtub watching you massage our baby with oil. The sun streams in from the half-open blinds from the picture window over the tub. The greys in your hair glint as they catch the sun. Your brows are furrowed in concentration as you turn her over and rub gentle circles. A smile…
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Leaving a trail of sentiments
She flitted into my life, like a butterfly one day in the past year – bright, cheerful and full of energy. Her expressive eyes filled her face imbuing it with a spark that rarely left a person untouched. Her hands told a story of their own as her voice modulated up and down animating the…