a memoir of etchings and wanderings
Sisters are a blessing. I imagine if I had one of my own, I’d never feel the need of a best friend. As far as memory takes me, the word always made me think of Pooja. She’s my first cousin and I met her once a year while on summer holidays. Those memories will last me a lifetime. Spending afternoons listening to the radio and giggling. Devouring watermelon and pomegranate … Continue reading “The Nikaah.” →
All of us have different definitions of peace A feeling that we probably cannot share I’ve always wondered how it would be to live underwater Minus the diving gear and all Then I stumbled across this video of the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium And as I watched it on full screen It felt like zen I have been very vocal about my opinion of the captivity of marine animals, and I think … Continue reading “Zen” →
A couple of months ago, on weekend family movie night, the parents and I were watching this Satyajit Ray classic – ‘Agantuk’. Translated into English, it means ‘The Stranger’ and is about a family dealing with the sudden visit of a long lost uncle. In the film, this uncle, having travelled the world, educates us about wanderlust (Did you know that this term is an English loanword which was already extant … Continue reading “Hrvatska!” →
June has been a month of emotional highs and lows, sleepless nights and zombie walking to work in the mornings. But when you wait for something for four whole years, all of the above seems trivial. I was glad to be home this year. With the folks and Baba’s brand new 60 inch television set that had been purchased specifically for what is known as the greatest show in the … Continue reading “The Beautiful Game” →
Nobody says goodbye anymore. Everyone just seems to disappear silently. They drift away quietly into the distance. There is not even an explanation to why you don’t talk anymore. You are just left hanging there with all these questions in your mind. And it hurts the most because these are the goodbyes that were never said. Nobody ever says goodbye anymore. People just leave with no warning. I came across … Continue reading “Nobody says goodbye” →
I hardly ever procrastinate when it comes to travelogues, but I guess this maddening summer and the backlog of television series have collectively contributed to the laziness. This year’s first step out was owed to a work trip to a part of the world that I haven’t been to since I was in my teens. The Indonesian archipelago has 18,307 islands and I was going to visit one of the … Continue reading “Terima Kasih, Bali” →
In the 1980’s, Carl Sagan, an American astronomer, astrophysicist hosted a thirteen-part series on PBS called Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. He discussed the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe and he invited audiences into the unknown in a quest for knowledge. “The cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be. Come with me…” he said. In 2014, I heard rumblings … Continue reading “The Pale Blue Dot” →
Some things come easily to people, others you have to fight for. Fight. Fall. Cry. Get up and dust off the dirt. Fight again. My battle was what is seemingly trivial to most people around the globe – mobility. For as long as I can remember, I have hated to ask people to take me to places, absolutely despised not being able to do things because I needed to depend … Continue reading “Mobility” →
Today, I was reminded of the little music group that I used to be a part of during graduation days in Pune. Having lived my life in Muscat with Baba as my only musical conscience, it was pretty easy for me to tell the melody of a violin from a cello by the time I was eight – but I couldn’t define what rock or pop was for the life … Continue reading “R-O-F” →
It’s a place where you are no one Where there is no shoulder you can lean on No clouds to protect you from the angry gaze Nobody to wipe your tears Not one person who looks back That might be what lies ahead. That scares me to the bones. And leaves me feeling numb for hours. I don’t want to reach here.