What is it about the ending of a year that makes you think of all the things you want to do and don’t want to do? Why can’t we resolve to get fit or start painting classes somewhere in the middle of the year? After all, isn’t time a continuum? We attribute an end and...
When someone asks me what is my favourite country in the world, my reply comes in a beat. China. Eyes widen, eyebrows raise in surprise. Why would I love a place that plays ‘sly games’ with India? A place which cripples you completely if you don’t know Mandarin? And, of course, a place where people...
Slow. That’s the first word that comes to my mind when I think of Laos. Slow. Languid. Time standing still. I spent three to four days in Luang Prabang, a tiny town with one main road and a handful of arterial roads. To revive myself and make time move faster I rented a bicycle and...
Like all serious travellers and photographers, I too have a hard disk chock full of images packed into folders that are delightfully building up. I love wandering into these digital suitcases of memories and browsing through the photos. Every time I do that, I remember a long forgotten moment and very soon am back in...
Rain. The very word has so many emotions attached to it. Rain can be soothing, peaceful, destructive, sorrowful, melancholic. It can be hard, soft, gentle, forceful. Rain is like a moody character in a modernist play. Like a lot of people, I enjoy the company of rain when am indoors sitting by the window with...
March 23rd is a special day for me. It’s the day a wonderful woman, my Grandmother, was born. Even though it’s now 14 years since she is gone, her presence lingers in me through her words, her teachings, and the very way she shaped my being. Grandmother was born and brought up in a small...
I enjoy stories set in WWII and particularly those that are based on real events. Pam Jenoff’s “The Orphan’s Tale” immediately tempted me for the same reasons when Lisa offered it to me for a book review. There was friendship, romance, history. It couldn’t go that wrong, I thought. The story revolves around Noa and...
Yesterday, I started this short online course named Literature and Mental Health from the University of Warwick featuring prominent figures like Sir Ian McKellan and Stephen Fry. One of the introductory questions that is addressed to the reader is, ‘why do you read?’ It set me thinking and led to this post. I have always...
That was the question that came to my mind when I got the word “surrender” as a prompt for my next post. The word has an aura of negativity to it, bringing to mind unwilling sacrifices and actions done grudgingly. But to me, it was just confusion over what to choose from all the good...
Sunrise and sunsets are as common as breathing. There is a certain comfort in knowing that the sun will rise and set every day without fail. It’s the rhythm of life. But somehow they are glorified when on vacation (I have seen many a beautiful sunset right outside my apartment). When Smits prompted me to...
