I wish I could recall the exact moment when I first became aware of an author named Alice Munro. Perhaps it was years ago in the New Yorker that I read one of her stories. I wish I could remember … Continue reading
I was driving by the local middle school the other day, when I noticed a group of students huddling around the platform of the school flagpole, lighting candles, pasting handmade cards, arranging flowers in vases. I pulled up, wondering if … Continue reading
On Mother’s Day this year, I did something unusual: I called my mother to wish her “Happy Mother’s Day.” She was surprised because, until my phone call, she didn’t know about Mother’s Day, and I hadn’t told her because I … Continue reading
Editor’s Note: An Indian American remembers how the mystical mountain valleys of Kashmir were, through Bollywood films, forever embedded in her imagination. Recent moves toward peace in the disputed region give the writer hope that Hindus and Muslims can embrace … Continue reading
Apparently there is a new documentary out about Deep Throat. Not Bob Woodward’s secret source dubbed “Deep Throat” in the Watergate investigation, but about that other, equally infamous Deep Throat, the movie, which made Linda Lovelace a household name. The … Continue reading
When I first came to America, people would ask me why my native country couldn’t get along with its neighbor. After all, memories of India’s three wars with Pakistan were still fresh in American minds then. I would try to … Continue reading
For the first years of the Bush presidency, I, like many intellectuals, viewed our commander-in-chief as a bumbling idiot who had stumbled into office with the backing of oil lobbyists who had installed him as a puppet ruler. But in … Continue reading
I am once again facing the dilemma I encountered when Bill Clinton was running for president. Back then, I couldn’t figure out what to make of Hillary. Now, I can’t figure out what to make of Teresa. Ironically, I was … Continue reading
Recent reports from the International AIDS Confer-ence in Bangkok painted a grim picture of women’s health in India. It appears that we now have an AIDS epidemic of unsurpassed proportions in India, where it is estimated that the highest numbers of HIV-infected … Continue reading
Just as I was beginning to think that P.G. Wodehouse was dated and that most people in the English speak-ing world could no longer remember who he was or what he had written, I came upon an essay in a … Continue reading