I have just spent an evening with a dear friend from college, and I am trying to describe her to P. So I thumb through my gallery of photos, looking for a picture of her. I have a very specific picture in mind — one from early 2018. I can’t find it, though. Soon enough,…
Sunita Medical Stores
Six-year-old Sunny hugs a glass jar close to his chest as Jagdish fills it with toffees. The stream of candy is interrupted by a pink fist that lands squarely in the jar. It closes its pudgy fingers around the sweets. Sunny scowls. He traces the fist back to its owner: a giggling toddler perched on…
I am a magpie
Note: This is what comes of listening to the Midnights album when you’re surrounded by shiny things.
flowers in your hair
who wore them first?
Mental Neutrality?
One of my favourite concepts in the world is body neutrality. And I find myself needing its mental equivalent. Mental neutrality? Personality neutrality? You get what I mean.
Prayers for a distant future
1. That I never walk past a flower without taking a picture of it. 2. That my favourite bakery always carries toast jewelled with night-black sultans, sugars browned to a crisp. 3. That I have a puppy someday, and she will be named Kulfi (if pale) or Jamun (if dark). 4. That there will be…
Blossoms
Spotted on a rainy walk: telephone poles and electric lines swallowed by a loud tangle of yellow blossoms. As yellow as the sun on the morning of your birthday. Petal and pollen had claimed these wires for themselves with the quiet confidence that only flowers possess. My questions are directed to the people who live…
Cramp
Today I made myself coffee that was almost as good as my mother’s. I wished myself a good morning. I oiled my hair and tucked myself back into bed, hours before breakfast, when my back threatened to noiselessly snap into two. This pain reminds me of the fragility of my body. When we were children,…
Pressing Pause
Last month, I called for a time-out. The intention was to walk away from the playing field and watch the game from a distance so I could decide what kind of a player I wanted to be. But, the concept of a career break was new to me. Like most people my age, I hopped…
Food for Thought
I can make a pretty mean Dal Tadka. The parental unit has confirmed this. And their judgment is obviously 100% objective and completely unbiased. (Yes, they also thought that my drawing of a jaundiced-looking rabbit of worrisome proportions was a masterpiece. Why do you ask?) All of the credits go to Chef Ranveer Brar for his divine…
Deeksha Bhat 