14th December 2020 Dear Anand I’m traveling for work at the moment. Today I had breakfast at a place overlooking a busy intersection of the city I’m staying in. The light rail, the bicycle track, the drive lanes all in perfect crisscross synergy taking commuters to their destinations. The morning light weaving through the buildings frequently getting caught on shinny surfaces; the bell of a … Continue reading 14th December 2020 | Dear Anand
To The Children of The Girmityas When your great-grandparents had lived in coolie lines and your grandparents lived on leased lands that were taken away after a lifetime of toil on that soil. You can’t blame your parents if they didn’t exactly get the concept of home right. I’ve watched my parents build their house from nothing. I’ve seen many kinds of people on … Continue reading 24/24
To My Sister Whom I Don’t Hear It’s selfish I know. That lately I actually don’t let you speak. That before you finish, I start talking about some other insignificancy. I don’t listen, you scream. That it’s not always about me, you scream. That I don’t understand you have things to get off your chest too, you scream. There’s something I’ve never told … Continue reading 21/24
There is no balance between grief and gratitude. No matter what they say about remaining thankful even in difficult times, I’ve found it is sheer impossible to practice any gratitude while your heart is breaking into infinite number of pieces. So let’s just stop kidding ourselves and let your grief consume you. Lie in your grief as long as you have to. Lie in that … Continue reading 20/24
Friendship is so much harder than love. With love there are no questions. It’s just sheer acceptance of everything you are. But friendship – it strips you. Layer after layer. It scoffs at your nervous inhibitions Laughs out loudly at your flaws Rolls it’s eyes at your trophies. When it’s done peeling you all the way to your core It’ll gather you up … Continue reading 19/24
You thought you had killed me. You waited till the vultures came. I watched your shoulders disappear into the heat haze. I once thought those shoulders would protect me from anything. It took me a long time to crawl out of where you had left me. My chest, arms, belly, thighs, knees scraped raw. Occasionally one of the deeper wounds on my belly … Continue reading 18/24
I am so sorry that your mother didn’t tell you that a wife could be the road untravelled. That that adventure you’re seeking across the seas, in unknown cities could be a woman. I am so sorry that your mother couldn’t make you see that a wife could be more than pure milk. That she could just be the frothiest milkshake you’d … Continue reading 15/24
I cannot remember the number of times I would arrive at my mother’s house and leave from the gate. Extra pairs of shoes at the front door always gave away her visitors. I could not bear the love in my mother’s eyes when she would hold my hand and pull me close to sit with her while I answered the same questions again & … Continue reading 12/24
He had a knack for breaking things. She rocked on the toilet floor with trembling hands Trying to tape the smashed pieces of her mix cassette together. She inserted it into her walkman and tried to press play. Didn’t work. She took a knife and tightened the screws And tried again. Her body sagged in relief, she finally sobbed into her chest. Born … Continue reading 9/24
3. /Balance/ Chaido – Baixa, Lisbon, Portugal. It must have been the first night in the first darn hostel when I strained the back of my foot. Climbing up and down top bunk beds don’t particularly suit us islander women (Note to self – ask for bottom in all future reservations). Gahhhh I just remembered that Indian railway episode! What probably made it worse was … Continue reading 3. Balance
Where is Shyamni? 