Last week we went to a birthday party of a very dear friend of my son. The family was so gracious to include a book reading of 10 Gulab Jamuns as part of the celebration. Even with stiff competition from… Read More »A birthday celebration with 10 Gulab Jamuns
Last week we had a little Diwali celebration at my son’s Kindergarten. We read from my book 10 Gulab Jamuns, sampled some Gulab Jamuns, made paper lanterns and painted clay lamps (diyas). It was so much fun! Some highlights 10… Read More »10 Gulab Jamuns’ Diwali celebration
My son was helping with gardening. He picked a flower, ran inside and handed it over to me. I took it from him and exclaimed it was a beautiful flower. He asked me to hold it in my hands,… Read More »Make a wish!
Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players have given us a new Shakespearean conundrum to think about. To kneel or not to kneel. Is it right to do anything but stand in front of the flag during the National Anthem? Even… Read More »To Kneel or not to Kneel
First published in Aaduna literary journal It was the middle of the school year. Mala’s family had just moved to the little obscure town of Belgaum in the interiors of India. The only school within walking distance was the vernacular one.… Read More »Daffodils
Just then, out of nowhere, as the train left Mulund station, a beautiful voice came lilting through the doors and windows. It was the sweetest sound one could have heard. “Lemons sweet lemons for you”. And like magic, the rains suddenly stopped. A brave defiant rainbow stood outside the window. Overjoyed by this happy coincidence the ladies brought their hands together and clapped for Suman Bai. “Look what magic my lemons bring”, said Suman Bai equally elated. “Lemons sweet lemons for you.
One morning, as most schoolday mornings, I was running around frantically pushing my sons to move a little faster. I managed to tackle two tantrums in the car and drop the younger one to his daycare. Next, I had to… Read More »A daydreaming agreement
A for… Transitions can be hard especially for a five-year-old. Remeber your first day at college or workplace? We have all been nervous about meeting new people, anxious about connections, the pressure of performance, the need to establish oneself and… Read More »A for
I am ecstatic! Won third prize in the Katha contest 2017. Thanks, India Currents Magazine and The Wellstone Center in the Redwoods for the opportunity. The theme this time was California. Take a read. All the stories are fantastic! https://www.indiacurrents.com/katha-fiction-contest-winners-announced/… Read More »Third prize at Katha 2017 (India Currents and Wellstone Center)
First appeared in http://raisingworldchildren.com/2017/07/05/marital-symbols-significance-ring-mangalsutra/ . Find out what my real marital symbol is. What is yours? I Don’t Need a Ring On Me A few weeks before I got married, I had an engagement ring,my first marital symbol . The first… Read More »I don’t need a ring on me!
A piece of mine is on KQED Perspectives this morning. If you are near the radio, listen in at 8.43 AM How do you cope with the obsession of coming first in your children? https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/2017/07/01/first/ Recently, I was finishing… Read More »First! (on NPR)
Traveling with small children can be stressful. There is, after all, relentless planning, panic-inducing air-travel, tantrum-ridden eating-out and ceaseless tantrums and sleepless nights to contend with. But the things we experience together traveling are not available in any brochure. Travel brings us priceless moments of growth for both children as well as parents.
My short story “Beautiful Eyes” was chosen for publication in Peacock Journal Beautiful Eyes “You have beautiful eyes”, I remembered his words suddenly as I washed my face that morning. I hadn’t plucked my eyebrows for months, my skin was… Read More »Beautiful Eyes
The toddler sulked and the pancake lay uneaten. I had looked everywhere for the green fork. In the kitchen cabinet, the laundry basket, the garage, the coat closet, and socks drawer. It was nowhere.
We humans have some baffling little habits, and not returning shopping carts to the stand is one for the anthropology class. It’s not because we are pressed for time. We are happy to spend forty minutes every day back and forth in our oversized minivan to go to the gym and run on a stationary treadmill for another forty minutes. But we will not spend the extra forty seconds to walk an empty shopping cart back to its rightful place.