“I thought of you,” a friend called to say. “Oh yeah?” “When I heard the news about Alice Munro.” A strange stirring went across my body. It was not elation, but something deeper; a sense of being known. For, if … Continue reading
The best TV show ever—and I mean EVER—ended on September 29th. And now I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms. So much so that I have decided to watch Breaking Bad from beginning to end, all over again. The story of the … Continue reading
As a child, Ganesh was my favorite God. I wanted, then, to have a God in my life. Most children have no such desire because they are born into families with Gods. God and religion are passed on to them. … Continue reading
As a child the word mountain used to evoke for me one image, of God Shiva sitting atop a snowy peak in the Himalayas, a snake draped around his neck. Of foreign mountains, I had only heard of the Alps. … Continue reading
Published in India Currents The summers of my childhood were long, hot and boring. The main distractions were playing cards, gazing at the stars at night, and occasionally, eating Blue Bell ice cream. When relatives visited, therefore, I was overjoyed. … Continue reading
My first taste of tea was second hand. I would stand behind the door curtain hanging between the front room and the middle room, twirling the fabric between my fingers, and peeking at visitors drinking tea. I would imagine its … Continue reading
Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, believes that women have themselves to blame for not succeeding in business and profession. That is what her opponents are saying anyway. Still, taken at face value, her message seems worth listening to. In … Continue reading
A flower growing on a bush was the amazing discovery of my childhood. We lived in the old city then, where flowers were wilted things wrapped in leaves and sold outside of temples. Or they were strings of jasmine or … Continue reading
The following essay was published in the journal Sugar Mule I faced the man in the blue uniform. From the other side of the row of booths, Bernard grinned at me. For a moment, my heart stopped. What if the … Continue reading
I remember the first time New America Media (NAM)—or rather its precursor the Pacific News Service (PNS)—dawned on my consciousness. It was in the early ‘90s, when one morning, out of the blue, I decided to become an op-ed commentator. When … Continue reading