I remember the first time I told my daughter a bedtime story. She was a little over two and not in the mood to sleep one night. Jungle Book was the ideal story since she loved animals. Her curiosity was piqued as I narrated the adventures of Mowgli. When I got to Sher Khan and “roared”, she burrowed closer to…
On this Teacher’s Day, I would like to honor a teacher whose classes I have not attended but from whom I have learned a lot throughout my life and still continue to do so. I had originally posted this on Facebook in September 2016. September 5th is celebrated as Teacher’s Day in India. It commemorates the birthday of Dr Sarvepalli…
The relief marking the end of my final exams in summer would give way to anticipation of my annual trip to Bombay. I would travel by the Udyan Express that would reach Bombay at 7:00 am in the morning. I would peer out of the window as the train pulled into the Dadar Railway Station and as the train slowly…
This is a reflection on our ongoing journey with our son. It was written in September 2013. I’m sharing this to provide a glimpse into the world of special needs children and their families. A few days ago, my wife called me excitedly to Nikhil’s room. As I walked in, Nikhil bent down, placed both his hands on the floor, folded his…
I had written this in July 2013, barely a month after my mother passed away following complications after a bypass surgery. Eulogies are the norm, but I wish I had shared some of these thoughts with her when she was alive. Fair warning, it is a long read. It had been a few days after her bypass surgery. A bunch of…
We were introduced by a mutual friend in the bus on my way to school. I was probably in 8th grade and the boy introduced to me shook hands with a firm handshake. He was alert, fit and the corners of his mouth appeared as if they would break into a ready smile at the smallest pretext. He held a…
“You have no idea how easy you have it, back in my time…”. Chances are that if you are a parent, you have uttered these words before. I have and I don’t know about you, but when I start a sentence with anything remotely like this, my teenaged daughter gets this glazed look in her eyes and she zones…
“CAUTION: STUDENT DRIVER…and screaming parent” said the bumper sticker on the car in front of me as I drove to work. I chuckled to myself. Very apt, given that my daughter passed her road test over the weekend and is a proud young lady. She has passed a rite of passage and she now feels that she has all the…
Family and friends occasionally tell me that I have a pretty good memory when it comes to trivia and incidents that have transpired in the past. I think each one of us has a good memory, we just tend to remember different things. I can remember conversations from the past or what song was playing in the car as…