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Amma’s Angels
6th April 2026. It was the 13th day after my mother’s passing. We had finished a beautiful and soulful set of rituals to remember her by and celebrate the life she led for 86 years, caring for her family, and all who came in touch with her. This was followed…
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The “Adult Orphan” Syndrome
The author reflects on the recent loss of their mother, who battled Parkinson’s disease, and the earlier loss of their father. The piece explores the profound emotional void left by their parents, while also celebrating their love and partnership. The narrative emphasizes coping with grief through cherished memories and a…
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The Year My Family And Friends Wrote Me Off
Before you judge my family and friends, I promise you they did exactly what I needed this year! Some background first… I started 2024 with a view to self-discovery, leading to self-development and new challenges and opportunities. I took a sabbatical, signed up for an MBA which was due to…
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Amma’s “Mor Moong Dal”
Back in 2000, when I was about to embark into my life as a married woman, I sat both my Amma and Appa down and took down all my favourite recipes that they made. Over the years, I added notes to those recipes when a few years later, I sat…
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If Not Now, When? Embracing Academic Challenges
Last year when I took a short break from working life, and began to take stock of life and what I wanted from it, a long-lost dream resurfaced from my memory. I always wanted to pursue an MBA degree. But I worked shifts for the most of my career in…
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Our Two Appas
Every year on 19th April, the day my father passed away back in 2009, I slow down, centre myself, focus on my Appa and in minutes, a story weaves itself from my subsconcious to my conscious mind, to the fingers flying on my keyboard and to a post much like…
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Reflections on Life’s Curveballs: My Anniversary Post Journey
For the first time since I started my blog, my anniversary post is late. It has taken me a while to gather my thoughts as they are across a few countries, time zones and lives. In what is for me a change of pace, I am not beating myself up…
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Straight From My Art – Workshop 20 – Shiva-Parvati
My cousin Goma found this beautiful piece of art depicting Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. The sketch being on black paper and drawn mostly with white gave an amazing effect. Myself and my sister Lakshmi rose to the challenge and attempted the artwork as well. The original artist painstakingly used…
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Straight From My Art – Wooden Box Decoration
One of our dear friends’ daughter got married in the month of December. A group of friends and colleagues decided to gift her something special and wanted to put the gift into a decorative box. My husband works in the custom furniture space, hence the box was created in the…
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The Art of Decluttering
I look around the house, feeling a little defeated. There are times in our life when dusty shelves and strewn clothes take a back seat over other priorities. This is one of those times. It doesn’t stop me from judging myself though. A lifetime of conditioning to keep a spic-and-span…
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A Sunday Morning, Appa and an Auto Rickshaw
It should have been 1988-1989 or thereabouts. My sister Neela was married by then and settled in the suburb of Chembur. We stayed in Andheri (East). On numerous occasions during this period, I would have visited my sister many times along with my parents. We usually took an auto rickshaw…
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Little Things That Brought Big Happiness
The life of my childhood (I am referring to the India of 1970s/80s) was very simple and very fulfilling. If I think back, I find so many memories of how a middle-class family stayed happy and content and enjoyed life to the fullest. You see, money in those days was…
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Straight From My Art – Workshop 19 – Diwali Mandala
Around first week November, I shared this pin with my fellow family artists to celebrate Diwali which was on 12th November last year. I loved how the artwork combined a Diwali lamp and a circular mandala. Both my sisters Lakshmi and Goma finished this one well before Diwali. The delay…
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Straight From My Art – Workshop 18 – The Goddess Durga
Slightly embarrassed with the timing of this post, but choosing to celebrate the art rather than dwell on how long it took me to finish this (not because it was complicated, but because I let other things take precedence over my own personal hobbies and interests). As the saying goes,…
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Covimusings – Four Years Later
When I looked at the date today, it struck me that it was four years almost to the exact week when the country I live in went into lockdown, along with many other countries in the world. What followed was a period of fear, uncertainty, loss and grief. It was…
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Celebrating Donors – Gayatri’s Journey to Recovery
On New Year’s Eve last year I wrote about how life came full circle for me and I experienced the privilege of taking care of a kidney donor, my sister-in-law Gayatri. It has been nearly four months since the kidney transplant took place and by the grace of God, both…
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On Appa’s Principles of Money Management
When Amma developed arthritis, and had to go on an annual basis for treatment to an Ayurvedic hospital in South India, it fell to me to help my Appa with the household chores. I was all of twelve I think, but I never thought to question this arrangement. Questioning Appa…
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When Amma Made Aavakkai Ooruga
There are so many precious memories that form part of our childhood. Memories of familiar sights, sounds, smells, people. They travel with us for life, and many a times, something happens in the present that brings a long-forgotten memory to the fore. Sometimes, the feeling of recalling something you didn’t…
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Summer, Salt and Leaps of Faith
Growing up in Bombay in the ‘80s was a unique and special experience. Living in a bustling, cosmopolitan city which was fast becoming a melting pot of cultures through people that converged from all parts of India into this city of dreams, to try their luck, make a life for…
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Before There Were Hacks, There Was Jugaad!
Long before social networking arrived on the scene, long before videos were made of what to do with plastic bottles or straws or paper clips or old tyres, long before the word “hack” was coined by the rest of the world, there was Jugaad. So what exactly is Jugaad? It’s…