Dear Mrs A., Hello! How have you been? Good I hope? I suppose you are surprised to receive my letter today. I mean, who writes letters nowadays? I could as easily have picked up the phone to talk to you instead. Communication was never as easy (AND affordable) as it is now. But I didn’t […]
Tea and Biscuits
Her name was Poonam… we called her Mrs. P. She was our landlady; my husband of one month and I. In retrospect, I cannot decide which feeling predominates when I think of her: rolling-on-the-floor amusement or I-wanna-dismember-you-with-a rusty-Rampuri ire. Scales tilting towards the former methinks. Yes… definitely. She was a middle aged lady and since […]
Common Denominator
My son came home from school yesterday, peeved to bits. The manner in which he jerked off his shoes after plonking himself on a handy chair, told its own story. With eyes averted and face glowering with impending thunder, he snatched off his tie and belt as if they were to be summarily hanged. Hmmm, […]
Wholesomeness Of Spirit
Winning through adverse circumstances and challenges is inspiring for all those who bear witness to the victory. But when you win through with your humility untainted by bitterness; resilience unsullied by a betrayed sense of entitlement, you demonstrate a Wholesomeness of Spirit which inspires reverence!
Breakthrough
I have known Sarita (name changed) for almost ten years. She is a self-employed woman. When I met her, she had reached a plateau in her professional growth. She had tried all she could think of to expand professionally but she had run against one brick wall after another. Someone introduced her to me and […]
Under the Circumstances
Have you heard people say, “Well Under The Circumstances, what did you expect me to do?!” The sentence is duly attended by a martyred air as if you ought to go down on your knees in respectful admiration and abject reverence. Can’t you see that the person was being victimized by malevolent circumstances? How crass […]
But Why Did You Lie?
…because you made it impossible for me to speak the truth. You don’t have the guts to hear it. You are too weak and self-obsessed to to make space for another person. You are too terrified of what it will mean to you personally, how you may have to change the status quo, how you […]
Another Lost Battle
Robin Williams passed away yesterday. May he rest in peace! When I learned of it this morning, I was shocked- like millions all over the world. I googled frantically for details. What I learned shocked me even more. I found that Mr. Williams’s high energy at times masked a personal struggle with alcohol and drug […]
That Chilly Winter Night
I remember how cold it was that night. I had taken them out for dinner; she and her mother. I’d just landed my dream job and I wanted to celebrate with her. Her mother invited herself, as I had (wrathfully) expected. To keep things her mother under control, I brought my brother along. The mother […]
A Sense of Well-Being
You long for a sense of well-being. Who doesn’t? You long to reach a state of peace and contentment in which God is in His heaven and all is right with the world. A quest for that state is fairly common. It is so closely associated with a state of happiness that it is all […]