I have always been a wuss around creepy crawlies. Insects of all manner and snakes. Big problem for me. In fact, as a teenager in Mumbai, I often walked past snake charmers and their kind – mostly on Railway bridges and near temples. I took a wide detour every time …
“God gives special children to special parents,”Or “you were given an autistic son for a reason. I could never do what you do,”. I’ve heard versions of these over the years. And it grates every time. The assumptions are that 1: Special needs children are a burden/impossibly difficult to raise. And …
Imagine looking into a crystal ball. Your life laid out for you between the murky clouds of white smoke. What do you think you will see? In 5 years? 10? Will you be happier? Sadder? Well adjusted to your own set of challenges? Flourishing as a career woman or thriving as …
If you asked my college classmates to describe me, they might throw around phrases like – “above average” or “reasonably smart”. The honest ones might even draw your attention to my obsessive need to impress my lecturers. I was a studious first bencher, with my Reynolds pen and an open …
The morning breeze wafted through the sun-dappled kitchen. A few dust motes twirled giddily before coming to rest on the worn floor. The room was large, a few feet shy of enormous. Every corner of the room- every nook and every cranny was utilized. This was a space where memories had …
The woman hitched up her skirt and continued kneading the dough. Her kids ran around, chasing each other in a quiet pantomime of the real game. They knew too well about bruises and broken bones – presents from their father if they were too loud. The woman cast a sour …
The moonlight gently hit the sloping roof of the house and then popped inside the open window. The bedroom attached to the window was rather average. A dresser, a closet, a door leading off to the en suite bathroom. Nothing special. Standard pictures of happy smiles adorned the walls. A …
There is a force on earth as strong as gravity. It holds us ransom, much like gravity does. But it unlike gravity, this force transcends time and generations, casting its dark shadow on entire family trees right from the root to the tips of unborn buds. This force – if …
My kids are finally back in school after their summer break. Well, my daughter has been in preschool all along and just switched from her Summer- complete timepass schedule to “Academic” timepass schedule. She’s 4 and therefore legally allowed to have all the fun in the world. My son went …
Novelist Margaret Atwood writes :“Why do men feel threatened by women?’ I asked a male friend of mine.“’They are afraid women will laugh at them’, he said, ‘undercut their worldview.’Then I asked some women students, ‘Why do women feel threatened by men?’ ”’They are afraid men will kill them” I …
