She sat there with a large box of KitKats. It was a multi-pack, with maybe twenty or so pieces. Her knapsack was on the floor and despite her Western attire, she had the red and white bangles of a newly married woman and a long, deep sindoor streak to go with it. We were at our boarding […]
“Is there anything else you want?” “A smartphone,” she said. After a prolonged silence. The silence in the room continued to thicken among her in-laws, her brothers, her mother and the lawyers. “Apple,” she continued without looking up, “I would ask for extra money but you know, with this situation, my face, it would be […]
As I leafed through some old albums, I came across a photo of my grand father sitting on his battered teakwood chair. The chair had hosted multiple generations of children, grand- children across genders, age groups. The chair stayed in the semi open living room area and that was where my grand father would supervise […]
Every year when I see the saree, it seems to disintegrate a little bit more – much like a memory of a marriage. Thread by thread, zari flower by zari flower. Ma was always reticent about the story behind her wedding saree . And each year, I take it out once to remind myself what it […]
Did I tell you about the time I flew? No seriously. I was always the quintessential only child – held back from most physical activities because of the degree of preciousness that my parents attached to me. As a result, most activities which children take for granted were completely removed from my life – […]
What does fear smell like? Fear smells like the absence of smell in a hospital. Perhaps induced artificially from swabbing the floors with phenyl and other chemicals. The absence of smell is in almost everything. Isn’t it unnerving and disconcerting when you find that food does not smell like food, people don’t smell like people […]
Bangladeshi artist and war hero Shahabuddin Ahmed is showing select paintings at Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum Gallery for four days staring tomorrow. And when we call, he speaks softly over the phone from his residence in Paris, his voice warm and affectionate, and surprisingly unaffected by the harshness of war. Ahmed imparts the same sense of calm to […]
You know why GOD created a gap between fingers?So that, some day the one who is made for you comes and fills those gaps by holding your hand. I have often come across these lines and every time they would leave me in a cynical contemplation. A cliché, I would remark. I had always regarded […]
Fabelle, the luxury chocolate line from the ITC group launched its second chocolate boutique at the ITC Windsor, over a sit-down four course plated chocolate meal. Yes, you read that right, there were four courses of chocolate desserts, paired with music. It was certainly unusual, but appropriate if you consider chocolate as music for the soul. The evening, organised at […]
In this world of little forgotten things, finding one’s true purpose seems to be of quintessential significance. You got to have an unwavering, steadfast reply to the question “ Who are you”? I don’t have one. I’d like to say, “Hey, I’m Sandra, I’m a writer”, but that’s just a load of crap. I’m no […]
It starts with a hum and slowly builds into a wave that washes over your mind, body and soul. A singing bowl really does sing to you. It takes a certain pace, a restrained rhythm all working in sync to make this music. The best way to play it is to surrender. Close your eyes […]
I open my cupboard And my clothes fall out like my feelings flow out in your presence. In the huge heap at my feet, I see your sweatshirt hidden under the blues, greens, pinks and reds. I almost instantly reach out and put it on. And I’m taken somewhere where I’m accepted for who I […]