Home Everywhere
As it is a well-established fact that I am a South Indian trapped in the body of a North Indian, I was understandably looking forward to my Kerala trip. I am yet to meet that one person in my life who would look at me and guess I am a Punjabi and not a South Indian....
read more
Why Lipstick Under My Burkha Doesn’t Set A Bad Example Or Any Example At All!
I liked the movie and wouldn’t have thought of writing this blog if there wasn’t a big debate on this movie on social media, largely around the Rehana story line. The points of criticism being how the movie got women empowerment all wrong, how feminism is not about...
read more
Puzzle
She was late by two minutes to give him breakfast He yelled at her She yelled at him She yelled at the maid He yelled at the doorman The maid yelled at the dog The doorman cursed under his breath So they lost ten more minutes He, to be on his way to the workshop on...
read more
Short Story: The Formula
It wasn’t my first trip to India. But every time I come here, I am full of nostalgia, a very quaint sense of cheer… and questions. Yes, questions too. I do love India. Even though I have been living abroad for 20 years now. Perhaps more because of it. I haven’t seen...
read more
Bubbles
Oh, this beautiful world of bubbles, I am in a bubble, You are in a bubble, Everybody is in a bubble. Oh, my bubble is better than yours, My bubble is prettier than yours, Your bubble is more colorful than mine, Your bubble is a bit nicer than mine. My bubble looks...
read more
Just Love…
Yes, I see rainbows Yes, the smile never leaves I smell roses that don’t exist Magic my heart believes It’s the way you look at me It’s the way you make me feel My heart goes aflutter My whole being wants to kneel Yes, I am high on love A little insane maybe It’s the...
read more
Short Story : Tryst
It took a long while to sink in. It was really HIM. Him? How can he barge into her life now like this? Suddenly? Just like that? After ages? At an airport! She wasn’t ready for this. Though she had played this very scenario in her mind umpteen times, it was nothing...
read more
ਚੁੱਪ ਚੁਪੀਤੀ ਅਰਦਾਸ
ਲੋਕੀ ਭਰ ਟੋਕਰੇ ਤੇਰੇ ਦਰ ਤੇ ਆਉਂਦੇ ਮੈਂ ਪੂਰੀ ਖ਼ਾਲੀ ਹੋਈ ਤਾਂ ਆਈ ਜਦ ਮੈਂ ਵੀ ਮੈਂ ਨਾ ਰਹਿ ਗਈ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ ਤੇ ਮੇਰੀ ਰੂਹ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਤ ਨੂੰ ਤਰਹਾਈ ਮੜ੍ਹਕਾਂ ਛੁੱਟ ਗਈਆਂ ਮਾਣ ਟੁੱਟ ਗਏ ਤਖ਼ਤਾਂ ਬਹਿੰਦੀ ਜਿੰਦ ਭੂੰਜਿਓਂ ਚਾਈ ਹੰਝੂ ਵੀ ਸੁੱਕ ਗਏ ਹੋਕੇ ਵੀ ਮੁੱਕ ਗਏ ਕਰ ਲਿਆ ਸਬ ਜੋ ਮੈਂ ਕਰ ਪਾਈ ਹੁਣ ਤੂੰ ਹੈਂ ਤੇ ਮੇਰੀਆਂ ਪਥਰਾਈਆਂ ਅੱਖਾਂ...
read more
The Tao of Sanil 8: Getting Born
After all the hullabaloo and hard work for Sanil’s 10th birthday party was over, and we were lazing about basking in the afterglow of job(s) done well, I asked him (a pretty simple and deserving question, I’d say): “So how did you like them? The first ten years of...
read more
Broken and Lovable
Do you throw away what is broken? If not from your life then from your heart? Can something be broken yet lovable? Can scars be beautiful? Scars that life bestows upon Sometimes as grace sometimes as riddle Or perhaps always as grace, sometimes hidden as riddle Each...
read more
The Tao of Sanil 7: What To Be or Not to Be
“So I have been blessed with this teacher and guide, who decided to be born through me. My son Sanil, 9 now, has always been full of inquiries, observations, deductions and theories… Ever since I can remember and ever since he started communicating, we’ve had these...
read more
Short Story: Manhood
And here she was again! How he hated this woman… creating a fuss over a few rupees, yelling and shouting even. Whenever he saw her from the distance, Raju knew a lot of time would be wasted. No matter how low a price he quoted, she would haggle as if he had been...
read more
Cracking the Code
There’s one thing I have learnt from my days of programming. Not one thing exactly, if I really sit down to count, but this one thing takes the proverbial cake. I was this green, wide-eyed fresher in the mesmerizing world of software development churning out miracles...
read more
The Tao of Sanil 6: Hug Away Grievances
Here’s another one of Sanil and I in the car. The song was playing on radio. To Sanil’s utter bemusement, I prefer to listen to old Hindi songs. Not that I don’t try, I really do, but somehow I cannot stomach new songs… especially when they are not being played in a...
read more
The Case for Forgiveness
How would you like to carry someone else’s baggage for the rest of your life? That too, an unnecessary, discarded one. Not much, I gather, if you have your wits together. Yet, carrying the burden of what someone else did to you is the most favourite of baggages....
read more
Short Story: Lift
It was getting dark. Neena wondered when she will reach home given the traffic situation. Why was there so much traffic in this city? Roads were giving up under the weight of never ending queues humans on machines, not that the roads were robust enough to begin with....
read more
Short Story: Hunger
“Eyes are the biggest betrayers. Some say eyes are windows to the soul. Who knows if they are… or if there is a soul… But betrayers, yes, the eyes are… if you are not careful, they let your secrets out… especially your desires. You know, hunger shines in the eyes...
read more
(Dis)Own Yourself!
Recently, a spiritual teacher of mine told me a story to drive home a point during an intense conversation. It goes something like: “There was a wise teacher who told a hall full of audience after her discourse that she had ‘direct connection’ with God. A scandalized...
read more
We and People
We owe it to people. People who raised us. People who taught us. People who made friends with us. People who were not-so-nice to us. We are not just we. We are a sum total of all the interactions we have had over our lifetime. Everything adds to our person one way or...
read more
The Tao of Sanil 5 – Abnormalcy
I love rains. I most certainly do. To the extent that some of my friends are convinced that I was a peacock in my previous incarnation. There are some benefits rains bring apart from the magic and mystical fragrance. Like the other day, I was sailing in my car with...
read more
Taking Emotional Inventory
You can’t sharpen your swords while you are in the midst of a war. Well, technically you can, but that won’t be the wisest of strategies or very effective either. We take inventories all the time – of our finances, our resources, our groceries, our wardrobes (which...
read more
Do you know your success?
Let me make this clear at the onset, I am not against unbridled ambition. In fact, I admire ambitious people with gaping awe, especially the ones who have a laser focus to achieve what they are after. My point is - success is overrated and is a twisted, misunderstood...
read more
Canning the Can’ts
“I can’t sleep on the right side of the bed.” “I can’t sleep with lights off.” “I can’t drive.” “I can’t dance.” “I can’t go to crowded places.” “I can’t go ahead after a black cat has crossed my path.” “I can’t lose weight.” “I can’t make it to Harvard.” As you must...
read more
We, the gullible consumers
Oh my God, there are so many products in the world, there is so much information… it’s like we are in the middle of a world war of words (and lights and sounds) and we are being bombarded from all angles… buy this, get that.. have this… acquire that… eat this… wear...
read more
What options do you have, really?
They tell you that your whole life flashes before your eyes. It kind of does, when you are hanging on a steep cliff by a single tiny rock that threatens to give in any time and all you can see below is seemingly infinite distance to the ground. Don’t ask me how I...
read more
The Tao of Sanil 4 – Raising Mom
So this month was Sanil’s 9th birthday. The thing with Sanil is that he loves his birthdays… that I am sure all kids of his highly-attention-seeking-and-totally-getting-it generation do. But he loves them so much that he starts planning the next one before the current...
read more
Wait, are you forgetting something?
The ‘you’ who you are, maybe? Life is pretty fast-paced these days. You have to put your best foot forward at any endeavour, be it professional or personal, to be of any consequence. With so much happening, life could be a constant marathon of proving your worth out...
read more
The Tao of Sanil 3 – What is it about Winning?
“So I have been blessed with this teacher and guide, who decided to be born through me. My son Sanil, almost 9 now, has always been full of inquiries, observations, deductions and theories… Ever since I can remember and ever since he started communicating, we’ve had...
read more
The Strangeness of it All!
India is a strange country. We are strange people. I’ll say. The observation becomes a wee bit in-our-face when we are celebrating our festivals. Like today I celebrated Durga Ashtami just as countless others. Some more observations here: I worshipped little “Srishti”...
read more
The Virtue of Not Knowing
So I was at this impromptu dinner where I laughed so much that it hurt my cheeks (really grateful for I had had such rough time in the past couple of months). We talked about all sorts of things under the sun or beyond it. There was this German guy who was telling...
read more