The recent death of a popular actor by suicide triggered a wave of conversations in India around mental health in the last few weeks. I don’t watch too many Bollywood movies, but the young actor’s death seemed to have struck a chord across the country. I don’t know why it was so. Was it because […]
Over the last week, at least 6 people have messaged or spoken to me about the restlessness they are going through with this pandemic. Make that 7. I will include myself in that list. As the conversations flowed, over email, text, and phone, I could only offer crumbs of comfort. Cliches. “It will get better.” […]
Someone I knew used to love buying me soap from Kerala. Don’t ask me why. I don’t want to know. Now, it has been months since this person left my life for good. But the other day, before Bangalore’s second lockdown began, I went to my now-desolate apartment to pick up some books. When I […]
Bangalore has been beautiful these last few weeks. At night, I sleep with a light quilt. The evenings and early mornings are edged with misty showers. My ‘walks’ on my terrace, therefore, had become less frequent with the rain. But one evening did draw a blue shade of promise for me, and I ventured up. […]
As I wrote in my last post, I don’t consider myself a ‘writer.’ Yes, that’s what I do for a living. I run a content company. I strategize content. I write reams and reams of words. I plan social media campaigns. But I never thought of myself as a writer. I thought that’s just me. […]
I am a reluctant writer. And an even more reluctant sharer of what I write. I am the sort of person who will write a novel in a frenzy in 30 days, and then delay sending a pitch to a publisher for 300 days. Also, I am a shy person, and I really can’t believe […]
There are a lot of people who take pride in the number of books they read. They diligently set reading targets and knock off every book they read on Goodreads. I am not one of them. For a long time, I didn’t have Goodreads or Shelfari or any way of tracking the books I have […]
Once, long ago, a friend I had never met until then told me this: There is no such thing as strangers. Just friends never met. Her words gave me solace at a time when I was lost and alone in a small town in China with no familiar face around me. I would look at […]
I have always been a runner. I love the easy rhythm of running, the way our minds can be aware yet lost at the same time. But last year, I fell in love with walking too. I loved the simplicity of it, the quiet condensation of each moment on your mind’s memories, and the calm […]