Tag: #realitybites
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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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A Plus B the Whole Squared
Author’s Note: Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals being spoken about. I have a very vivid memory of my first day of higher secondary school. All of us progressed from secondary to higher secondary with a lot of trepidation and uncertainty. We were about to…
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Memories of an Unborn Sibling
Siblings like me who turned up nineteen years after their eldest sibling was born might identify with this. The youngest of five sisters, even my fourth sister is eight years elder than me. As a result, my four sisters had eight years together before I turned up. Plenty of time…
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The Year that Wasn’t
It’s been a strange year for sure. Nothing to write home about, to put it mildly. I have started a few times since yesterday to attempt to write a blog to commemorate this rite of passing, this flip of a page on the Gregorian calendar from the dreaded year of…
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CoviMusings – When Amma Wrote Letters
This year has been special for all the wrong reasons. The big “C” word looms over us and dictates our life, our movements, what we can and cannot do, who we can and cannot meet. Something else that has come out of this though is the fact that we’ve never…
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Happy Kidneyversary!
Ten years back, I and with me my husband and our family went through an experience that left us changed forever. I was diagnosed with kidney failure and my sister Lakshmi saved my life quite literally with the gift of her kidney. As part of the preparation for the transplant,…
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CoviMusings – Teacher’s Day
Author’s Note: For the last few months, humanity’s thoughts have always been underscored by the all-pervading presence of the pandemic. This humble author is no different. I have struggled for the last few months to write because everything I want to write about seems to revolve around this. So I…
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The Movie That Wasn’t
The year 2000 will be a memorable year in my life. I got married in this year to my soulmate. But that’s not the only reason why it will be a memorable year. Every couple finds themselves in seventh heaven in the days between their engagement and wedding. It is…
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month
Straight away, I scoffed when I read that! What mental health are you talking about, I fumed to myself… is anyone in the world sane anymore? But then I paused and took a deep breath. Every one of us in the world right now is united like never before by…
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Broken Dreams – The Silver Lining
Author’s Note: One more follow-up story of an amazing and extraordinary lady who found her way back to happiness by finding herself. She’s a blogger in her own right now, and I felt the rest of her story should be told in her own words. Every one of my women…
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A Decade Since My Rebirth
It’s been ten years today since I was given a new lease on life. Recently I wrote about how my sister very literally saved my life by donating her kidney. Life has never been the same since that life-altering experience. Ten years have just flown by. Ten years since my…
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A Crisis is Cooking
Every once in a while, life gives you insights in the most unexpected of places. Even a simple trip to buy groceries can turn into an unforgettable experience. Something, which leaves you pleasantly surprised, and more importantly, leaves you with a sense of hope and promise for the next generation…
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Bound for Life
Four years ago, around thirty ladies found their way back to school. I was one of those ladies, and this is our story. But I’m getting ahead of myself. A few days before we met, we were added to a Whatsapp group by a few schoolmates who had got back…
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A Mother’s Love
He stuck his head up from the grass and smelt the air. His ears cocked for the all-familiar sound of guns and his nose twitched, searching for that smell of carnage and smoke. But try as he would, all he could smell was the fresh grass that shone from the…
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Retrospection, Reflection and Realisation
Another year comes to a close. It is once again time to take stock of the last 365 days and build a mental balance sheet. As is the tendency of us human beings who, irrespective of our culture, have come up with creative ways to keep time – it inevitably…
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Oranges and Lemons, Sold for a Penny
There are times in life when even those closest to you, who you feel you know more than even yourself can shock you with a revelation. Although the subject revolved around the most simple subject of fruits, my friend of over a decade managed to sufficiently shock me. In turn,…
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Three Years of mykidneybeans!
On my third year anniversary, I find myself in another country. Neither my birth nor my adopted one. I am in beautiful, culture-rich, amazing Russia. I don’t intend to turn my third anniversary post into a travelogue. Neither am I going to recommend where you should go and what you…
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I Washed Your Bum!
During my childhood and early teens, my grandmother had established a ritual of sorts when it came to her new sarees. She wouldn’t wear anything new unless I wore it first. Her apparel of choice was the traditional nine-yard saree that did not involve wearing any inner skirt, like the…
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The Storm behind the Calm
A friend narrated this tale to me a few years back and it has stuck with me since. Let’s call her Priya. This true narrative is about an unforgettable person who has become unforgettable to me in spite of not once having met her. One of Priya’s friends (let’s call…
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Amma and Keeping in Touch
My mother is now over eighty years old. And over the years she has changed from a hyper-active, super busy, doesn’t know how to relax person into a calm, cool and collected influence on all of us. This transformation for those who have known and lived with her is truly…