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Life lessons from everyday things – By the sink

Off late, there is so much banter around the heat. This year, the summer has pushed us all to sweat it out without having to really sweat it out. After every such conversation, I think of the summers while I was growing up. I mean, we grew up in the Middle East so the “we know how hot it can get” sort of attitude does come across subtly!  These seasons change the nitty-gritty of our everyday life in such a significant manner, though we don’t really notice most of it. The summer was harsh where we grew up – like so hot. We were privileged enough to not experience the brunt of it with the comfort of moving into air-conditioned facilities. However, some things screamed summer and made life difficult. Picture this: exposed pipes running through our house like fiery serpents, heating up the water as it made its way from tank to tap. It's like the water itself was trying to stage a rebellion against our attempts to stay cool. The time it stays in the pipeline, it just heated up all the m...
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Beyond Utterance

 “They’ve said and written grand, wonderful things. I hope you get to read and hear all of them, because there’s something so special in that experience, in falling in love with words. Feeling them like fluttering butterflies beneath your skin. Like whirlwinds in your head. Like a punch to the gut.” ― Fredrik Backman, Things My Son Needs to Know About The World Words have always worked for me. Things I said. Things I wrote. And I got so used to it working for me. I took it for granted. Over the years, things that needed to be said and written kept growing. The words kept flowing at a much faster pace that my mind couldn’t keep up with. Flowing almost became forcing. I mostly found myself filled with bursting words and that became a consistent part of my existence. Some of it found a voice in this world to heal while some created rifts. Some of it resonated differently and some of it was disregarded.  Certain words arrived too swiftly, leaving insufficient time for...

Lunch’O Clock - Part 1

Up until 15 years ago Growing up in Muscat, we made it home in time for lunch. We could eat with our hands and take our own sweet time. Or could we? Because welcome to Geolin – rules are rules, girls! Our lovely home was a little uphill and as Pappa geared up the slope and the car came to a halt, we’d catch a glimpse of our Mumma standing at the door. She’d be fresh after a bath, wet hair loosely tied at the end leaving enough room for it to dry out slowly. She was almost always draped in a set mundu keeping us rooted. What a stunner, Mumma! She’d stand there and catch a glimpse of us and know exactly how our day went. From the comfort of the car to the scorching heat outside to the warmth of the home was routine, but one of the biggest luxuries this life has given me. Lunch was always ready. I never asked how. I never even wondered. It would be laid out on the table and we just needed to finish about 10 things in Mumma’s rule book to be able to devour our lunch. Shoes in the rac...

Ever-changing perspectives of the same place

Have you gone back to a place that when you last visited made you go all wow and yay? Have you observed how the wave of joy came in not like a gush but slowly flowed in and tickled your feet? Have you experienced the familiarity and the feelings of the past kick in slowly - everything you used to wow about; and then slowly you’re wondering why it all feels so different? A couple of weeks back, I went to Mysore for probably the third time in the last 5 years. This time, while walking through the palace, I noticed myself looking for “me”. There was this version of me whose heart paced and did kathak in rounds all over that Durbar hall when I first visited. The indo sarcenic interiors had sparked off that ghazal in my head and my body language changed as though I took each step carefully adorning the lavish costumes. This time I just noticed how my reactions had changed. It took longer for me to start doing that Kathak. I remember how I’d have a clear idea of what I should wear wh...

Holding hands through changing contexts

 A few years ago, my two friends and I bonded over snacks and chat during our recess at school. Each of us struggled with different types of math problems, we had different dreams to chase, and we struggled with different challenges. Then one day we took off to different places to chase our dreams. Of course, we made promises to stay in touch; we shed tears because we thought we can’t live without each other, and we made our parents promise us national roaming plans so that we could talk our hearts out. Fast forward – more than a decade later - multiple milestones, wins, and falls later – we three managed to transcend and keep it together. Technology nurtured our bond and it worked fine. Then one day, we decided to take some time to catch up in person in another country. It was a dream and fortunately, it was simply beautiful. On reflecting upon my experience of being part of a close group for so many years, I penned down a few things before and after the trip – BEFORE When we ...

Life lessons from everyday things - Behind the wheels

It was a long-drive day for me. Some days I go to my head office that’s a little farther away in distance and a lot further when gauged on vehicular movement. These drives are quite something! It is pretty much my alone time – to think, to talk to myself, to sing, to listen to music, to hear audible and podcasts, to call my folks and talk longer – I mean, I cannot help wondering what all I get done in the time that, I otherwise complaining about. Maybe, a part of me doesn't want to swap this commute time or would yearn for it when it is taken away! The other day I got thinking more about the time I spend behind the wheel. Just when I am about to hit the highest note while singing along to a beautiful song, right at that moment when I feel everything is so beautiful and my heart feels heavy with gratitude – either a pedestrian runs out of nowhere or another vehicle will do some unpredictable movement on the road. From that brief moment of calm, I switch to everything that’s bare...

Life Lessons from Everyday things - The one from loving the salad at Pizza Hut

I miss them. The salad bars in Pizza Hut. I often overthink it – why do they not have them in India?! You might tell – Aren’t the pizzas more their thing, then why worry about the salad?   Well. Go to the salad bar and then let’s talk! That plate of salad is what I feel is absolute education. In Pizza Hut, there is the scheme of paying for a plate and taking as much salad as you can in one short in that plate. As straightforward as it may sound, it is an exercise that challenges you and tests you on everyday skills! The presence of mind to hold a napkin in your hand with the plate before you start – Initiate with purpose. Holding it firmly and doing the mental calculation of what goes where and the approximate quantities – Planning. Starting the layering and making those calculative moves – Be it the base layer of lettuce to avoid the runoff from the coleslaw and pickled beet or making sure the olives are embedded in the salads; silently recollecting the errors tha...