Category: Relationships
-
Breaching New Frontiers
“You can get drunk as much as you want to…” Ammu says playfully in conversation where her dad and I talk about her and her twin getting their learner’s permits and eventually their drivers license. “Ani! Neva…” I call out laughing as I do and head back to my oasis that is my study. “True!…
-
Heartbreak Central
I queue up Taylor Swift to start as I enter the car and connect the phone. Say Don’t Go fills the enclosed space. The ride to the bus stop is less than a minute. I park and sing along as loudly as I dare. Pattu joins me. When the lyrics pause and the music takes…
-
Orbits
Our lives glide smoothly, seamless on predetermined paths. Occasionally, I pass you in the distance, the tilt of the head, the familiar gait causing my heart to quicken and a smile to appear on my face. Sometimes, I notice a picture on your status and I linger just a moment before I move on. Sometimes,…
-
Shattered Mirrors And Onions
For years, this scene from a Tamil movie has been stuck in my head, an early precursor of what families are like. Noisy, complicated and messy. The imagery of a shattered mirror to depict fractured relationships has stuck in my mind rising to the fore each time a relationship falls apart from the weight of expectations…
-
Love In The In-Between Spaces
I sat across my friend at the local Indian restaurant. Our plates full and the tables too close together. I tried hard to not notice our neighbor giving us a little too much attention. We sat, her and I, talking about our daughters and exchanging notes on the local elementary school. This lunch would have…
-
Up and Down, Around and Around – The Carousel of Life
Laddu clings to my knees, screaming with a vehemence that takes me by surprise. The sauté pan with the hot oil waits for the seasoning. The freshly cooked rice cools on the adjacent stove, the pearly grains emitting wispy spirals. The lunch boxes are open on the other side of the counter. I pick Laddu…
-
The Voice At The Other End Of The Line
The phone rings a few times before her voice comes on the line. Reassuring. Available. Just there for my taking. We exchange pleasantries. We talk about what we cooked, how we slept, minor aches and pains, the cost of medicines, the cost of a kilo of tomatoes. We talk of bank balances, siblings and children.…
-
Detachment
Left with a couple of hours to kill in a waiting room, I dutifully turned to Facebook and my email. What started as a simple response to an email snowballed into a flurry of emails. Switching off the iPad, I gazed at a corner of the wall and took stock of the situation. The solution…
-
Remembering to forget
Most days somewhere between the time I wake and my coffee, I think about what date it is. It normally reminds me of birthdays, anniversaries or special memories associated with the day. I think about the person or persons, events, places that hold a place in my heart for that day before moving on. Some…