“I will teach you few French words, these are the important ones!” “Yes, please do! “Do you know what belle means?” “Umm.. no!” “It means Beautiful, you beautiful woman!” “Okay, thank you!” When you’re not used to this unusual attention in your surrounding, every opportunity it actually comes your way…

We first met her at the breakfast table of the vintage property hotel, situated on the ends of Assi, Benaras. “Hi! How long have you been here?”, …

“Thanks for recommending ‘Sir’ to me. I loved watching it , and my mother, I think she is still reeling in the after-effects of watching it. She’s a Chinese immigrant in the US with her heart in India” “ Need more recommendations?” “Yes, but not the ones that are either…

Maya came late to the introduction class that day, a reputation she kept alive on most days through the entire course, than not. I was scourging through ‘a perfect seat’ in the class, somewhere that would give me a good view of the Professor, the black board and the well…

He stitched pencil bags for me from recycled coloured rainbow-like silk and cotton fabric and got them along on his perennial quarterly visits to our house, in Patna Saheb. I remember every time, he would say, Titli, (as he lovingly named me, in short for butterfly) and asked me with…

I’ve shed my emerald shades, but your side is no longer green like it used to be, then, within the realm of all colours of a fiesty red and a chripy yellow of benevolent blues and earthy browns you were that colour in the build and the break my hits…

“Just wanted to update you, we have now crossed the Indian border and have been asked to self quarantine for 14 days.” “Quarantine”? I inquired without ado. Arguably, the most used English language word for the past two months has a capability to arouse a rain of emotions. My conversations…

“They say it does not have a bottom. Somewhere down in the middle , some circling force pulls people in, or so it is believed.” “Five people died?” “ Or they went to the other side of the lake, beyond the bottom!” ******** I laugh at myself sometimes, thinking about…

At the Museum of Women in the Arts, she said. I had not seen her for a while, and would not be running into for our customary once a week classes, so, despite the snow and biting cold, I decided to make it there. The museum culture was big for…