Musings

I am a self-confessed bookaholic. My passion for reading is such an integral part of my personality that anyone who knows me even a little cannot avoid noticing how my life is truly immersed in all things books related. So often, I get asked questions about books. Questions that send me in a mild brain freeze, have me sweating at my armpits and fumbling at my mouth — as I try to find an answer…

A sliver of sunshine lit up the hardwood floor of the cafe as a thirty-something brunette pushed open the door, dragging a laptop stroller behind. She was dressed in business clothes — crisply pleated dark trousers, a collared shirt and a navy blue blazer. She looked out of place in the hippy café with its multicolored chalkboard menu listings, ads plastered over the walls, and local paintings for sale exhibited all over the seating area.…

I have been writing all my life. Stories, poems, and essays. Scribbles in diaries, haiku games with friends and long, winded letters to loved ones. Every single time emotions overwhelmed the mind, my instinctive reaction was to pick up a pen and paper and just write. Falling in love, falling out of love, failing at work, getting promoted, family feuds, a show that I loved, a book I hated–all of it tumbling onto paper. And…

I step out from under the dirty brown awning of my three-story apartment building. The grey cracked concrete walkway to the street is littered with a soggy, muddy old copy of the Los Angeles Times, pages falling out of the flimsy string holding it together. An empty Starbucks plastic cup (tall) rolls over brightly printed car wash coupons, charred cigarette butts sneak from under the sun-baked yellow grass, dead bougainvillea flowers sit degenerating into pulp…

Landing in Florida As the plane circled Orlando, I had a feeling that I was flying over a gigantic golf course. Orlando is not just the city of theme parks, it is a theme park. Well manicured gardens, little ponds, white roads, and clearly outlined neighborhoods, it appears very pretty from the top. This appeared to be a very promising beginning to our seven day trip to Florida. Stepping out of the airport, it was…

Note I wrote this in my journal ages ago on our first trip back to India in 2012 after having lived in the US for 3 years. Posting it here because I feel it’s still relevant. Things have changed over the last decade or so in India. There has been development although a little skewed. The situation for people like me has gotten better. Unfortunately, people like me make a very small part of this…

Starting the day with a bus ride to Chora Museum On our third day, we had to get across town to the Chora Museum, one of the last standing churches of the Byzantium Empire. The Chora museum is famous for its large collection of gold mosaic work. As we boarded a packed bus at Galata Bridge, I was a little nervous because crowds and new places do that to me. We also had no clue…