In 2003, my friend and I landed in Beijing on a teaching assignment in the middle of the SARS epidemic. With no real Internet and no smartphones, we arrived innocent, naive, and trusting of the world. We giggled at somber-looking Beijingers with their masks. We wore no masks and took no precautions as we stayed […]
“How was 2019 for you?” a good friend asked me. That was when I realized that this year is really coming to an end. I didn’t have an answer to my friend’s question. I hadn’t thought of this year ending. I hadn’t even thought of this year beginning. For some reason, I feel that I […]
A friend of mine sent me this link in the morning. It’s a beautiful page and was just what I needed. On Being is a “social enterprise” with a radio show at its heart. It looks at questions that we wonder about but are always scared to ask: What does it mean to be human, […]
While writing on my book, I happened to write about how of one of the characters in the novel has a Monet painting on her wall. Not the original, of course. As I wrote it, I realized that’s just how I would want my living room wall to be. I would love to have many […]
I read this. “A star falls from the sky and into your hands. Then it seeps through your veins and swims inside your blood and becomes every part of you. And then you have to put it back into the sky. And it’s the most painful thing you’ll ever have to do and that you’ve […]
I went running yesterday evening. I take the same route every day. There is something of the routine that calms my mind. I don’t like running. Especially not after a grueling strength workout in the morning. I don’t like running and yet I run every day. I am not supposed to run with a bad […]
Abandonment. the action or fact of abandoning or being abandoned: “she had a feeling of utter abandonment and loneliness” synonyms: desertion · neglect · stranding · jilting · betrayal · disuse · [more] evacuation · neglect · renunciation · relinquishment · rejection · withdrawal · dropping · cessation · discontinuation · termination · stopping · […]
I write this at a time when the sun is relentless in Bangalore. The light, pale, washed-out sky seems tired. It’s almost a reflection of my mind. I have been trying to be kind to myself – to not beat myself up if I do not work at the same pace as in a “regular […]
It was one of those evenings when you travel when you have no plans. I had just finished a tiring day of snorkeling, my first ever. In the port city of Dumaguete, I sit by the promenade. The sun is just about to set, as I listen to music and watch a steady stream of […]