Founder of eShe magazine (eshe.in) and the peacebuilding initiative South Asia Union (southasiaunion.com). Features in and as 'The Unsuitable Girl', in episode 1 of 'Love Storiyaan' on Amazon Prime. Email: aekta@eshe.in
On boarding a long-haul flight from Amsterdam to Vancouver, I found my aisle seat and sat down, waiting to see who my companions would be. Two 70-something Dutch women walked in a few minutes later, looking at me with some suspicion and what I thought was judgement. “They must be racist,” I thought, not realising … More The inside story
I feel so blessed to live in a country that inspires God everywhere you look. People are named after gods so you cannot help uttering a few sacred names in the course of a usual day. My younger one is named after Goddess Durga. My aunt had a domestic helper called Mahesh (another name for Lord … More Surrounded by God
“One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.” – Iris Murdoch Yesterday was an exhausting day, so today, I decided I would allow myself a few indulgences. Early morning, I allowed myself to read through a chapter in a book (I’m into the Ramayana these days) — despite knowing that my yoga class … More A day of indulgences
This weekend, I had the task of picking up my younger one from a friend’s birthday party at a mall. When I got there, I was unceremoniously dumped with the duty to take home not just my own kid but two others as well. Since my car already had three of us in it (myself, … More Fart and furious
Today I spent the evening with a mother-daughter duo in my residential complex. I’d only briefly met the mother before, and she was intrigued by me and insisted I stay for tea and tell her daughter, who is about my age, ‘my story’. I spoke for a long while, and the older woman probed and … More Story time
My best friend in Delhi (as opposed to my best friend in Mumbai and another one in Kerala) is dear to me not only because of her company, which I love and thrive on, but also because of how she has changed me for the better over the years. There’s not one aspect of my … More Beauty through her eyes
Something had been awry lately. And for the life of me, I couldn’t put my finger on it. The only clue I had was these damn acne, running furiously around my face, digging in with their jibes and scorn, taunting me in that horrid sing-song tune, “You’re doing it wro-ong, you’re doing it wro-ong.” I … More The pimple path
He often asks me why I never write about him on my blog. Because I haven’t yet introduced you to my parents, is one of my excuses – won’t my family mind if I declared you to everyone else but them? Another silly one is, I don’t have the time. The third is a self-question: … More He’s the man
When your child’s behaviour is at its worst, that’s when she needs you the most. I’d read this a few years ago in some parenting article, but had never really applied it. My elder one’s bad moods only became more rebellious and insolent as she grew older and each ‘fight’ only led me to become … More Fight club
Of late, I’ve been feeling constantly tired. I first thought it was perhaps due to an increased workload (we’ve just taken on a second on-stand publication). Then I reasoned it was due to a continuous schedule that didn’t give me reprieve even on weekends. Perhaps it’s the demands of two teenagers, and the messes they … More A small choice
For some strange reason, I went and hit ‘clear data’ on my HTC Android phone today. I thought I was just making space (every now and then, it tells me that the phone memory is up, so I clear data in certain programs). But to my shock, it wiped out everything – my settings, my … More Reset and restart
I’d been looking for a good yoga teacher so it was really no surprise that a tall young Malayali walked up to me while I was walking past my apartment complex’s department store and said he’s a yoga teacher and available at a very reasonable rate in the comfort of my own home. It’s also … More Undead in my head
Being maid-less for two days forced me into manual labour before and after office hours — washing dishes, sweeping and mopping floors, doing the laundry, and that most frightening aspect of the home domain for me: cooking. Initially, I tried to get away with ordering from Colonel’s Kababz and McDonald’s. At the end of day two, however, I … More Food for the Gods
A couple of years ago, I went for a Vipassana course, the idea of which is to keep silent and spend time with oneself for 10 days, alone even when in the company of a hundred others. No form of communication is allowed, not even eye contact. For lack of regular human activities like reading, watching TV … More Talking to trees
My throat is killing me these days. I’ve just not got over my cold and cough from Monday. And this is a rare occurrence now, so I’m sitting up and taking good notice. The first question I asked myself was: What is this throat ache and cough doing to me? Answer: It’s forcing me to … More Cough cough
100 Paths 