As days got busier, my  home got fuller with minute invaders settling down comfortably on windows, walls, kitchen racks and shoe cupboards. Every time, I saw one or more of them, I was reminded of my failure to keep my home in order. An ant in my baking flour looked me in the eye and told me I was not a good baker. A spider just outside my entrance reminded me, I was not doing enough to keep my home clean. Fruit flies on the vegetable shelf silently suggested I was not managing my groceries well. Sigh! So many voices constantly prodding me to judge myself. I had little choice…

After Homeschooling for about 3 years, Yog decided to join school 4 months ago towards the end of the current academic year. Since the first day of school, he has been loving it. The first day of school, he sat through a science assessment. and scored 3.5 out of 5. He was thrilled that he knew most of the answers. Right after he got home, he told me about it with glint of pride in his eyes. I couldn’t help but marvel at how easily he transitioned from a no assessment zone to writing assessments and being proud of them! Two months into the academic year, we were seeing final…

From earning her money to making her own food, Toyna has grown so fast that I sometimes have to look at my old blogs just to remind me of her childhood. Like any mother, I feel immense pride at seeing her unfurl her wings and set out to fly. Yet, at the same time, I fear for her safety. What if she flies too fast, too far? What if there is a predator out there? What if she loses her way? What if… Like any parent, I would love to keep my child close to me and shield her from harm. But then fate taught me one of the biggest…

The ocean encompasses the land Yet the both couldn’t be more different We seek agreements in relationships Knowing very well that opposites attract We choose to love unconditionally Hoping that our love will be returned We believe in freedom of our expression How dare, someone else questions our freedom We believe there is one God We call upon that God to save us and crush the enemy   These are the contradictions of life Answers which no one found It is human nature, they say to behave like animals in our own way

In the heat of the moment today, I asked my teenage daughter how many times in the recent past, had she shown her appreciation towards me. She and I both knew the answer but I just wanted to say it out loud. I just wanted her to feel bad. I just wanted her to fee guilty because she had make me feel bad. Having spit the poison out at my family, I stepped into the kitchen drowning my tears into the Sambhar steam filling the kitchen. She came to the kitchen and apologized for making me feel bad. But she still didn’t say she loved me. She still didn’t say…

I am changing the world, making it a better place I save lives each day, give hope where there’s none I am a doctor I haven’t spoken to my father in the last 5 years I am changing the world, making it a better place I guide CEOs on their investment decisions I am a Banker I don’t know which grade my daughter is in or who she is dating I am changing the world, making it a better place I nurture young minds on how to develop their free thought I am a teacher I don’t have time to heed to the idiosyncrasies of my Mother in law I…

Children who do not score well in exams, spend on an average 7 hours in school. To help them improve academically, school puts extra classes adding another hour of study time. Parents also want to help so they either teach the child or put tuitions for the child, adding another few hours of study time for the child. On an average, an academically weak child (a child that scores less marks) is studying more than 9 hours in a day. This is more than adult working hours. To top this statistic, here’s another one. These children are not even 10 years old right now. Don’t we as parents, teachers or…

I was an illiterate first time parent. I was brought up in an age where we were not even taught about nuances of sex, leave alone conceiving babies and bringing them to life. I thank my eldest sister, Sidney Sheldon and Mills & Boons equally for the little sex education I had. In the first year of marriage, my husband and I used to look up books on pregnancy and child birth even when we were not planning a child. Simply because, we both had a lot to learn about the process. Needless to say, when we did get pregnant, I started to read in detail about pregnancy, child birth…

We are riding on a scooter. Yog suddenly asks,”Why that girl has a tent?”. I immediately decide that this conversation is soon going to transform into, “Why don’t we have a tent in our house?” So I tried to act ignorant. “I didn’t see any tent. Which tent are you talking about?” This was true. I wondered how Yog managed to see a tent inside someone’s house while we were on the scooter. But Yog insisted. “That tent on the road! You didn’t see?” (Implying- How can you drive without seeing??) It struck me then. There indeed was a make shift tent on the road. A lady lived there. I…