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
A significant phase of my life is coming to a close, a phase that has given me the silence and space to look at my priorities, evaluate my goals and focus on my intimate relationships. I am left deeply affected and indelibly changed. As I look back for the meaning in the madness, I find … More Lessons in domesticity 1
“Where’s the toilet paper?” hollered the husband from inside the bathroom. “Where it always is,” I hollered back, busy with my early morning household chores. “It isn’t in here,” he said irritably. “I just put a fresh one in there yesterday,” I called back. “Where is it, I can’t see it,” he roared. “Look around, … More The missing toilet paper and other mysteries
A couple of days ago, my elder daughter M, age 16, borrowed a formal churidaar-kurta ensemble from me to wear to a Diwali party with other teens. After trying it on, she busied herself with hair and makeup, until it was almost time to leave. Then, she asked me, “Where’s the dupatta? I had it just … More Believing is receiving
I see You in the start of winter I see You in the trembling sneeze I see You in the scarves and sweaters Lying in the balcony, soaking up the breeze. I see You in the morning chill I see You in the dogs sniffing for a treat I see You in the smell of … More Path 7-9: Winter
Dear God, I see what You’re doing. I see how You’ve scrubbed away, layer by layer, years of grime and stress. How You’ve gradually helped me unlearn the frenetic lessons of the past few years. How You’ve taken me back in time to an earlier, more sordid remembrance of who I used to be, and … More Scrubbed clean
Sometimes, you’re the daughter craving for your mother’s approval. Sometimes, you’re the mother craving for your daughter’s approval. Sometimes, you are lonely and wish for companionship. Sometimes, you have too much companionship and wish for solitude. Sometimes, you’re stuck in an office and miss the calm of the trees. Sometimes, you have the trees but … More Both sides
She was turning into her own mother. Every day, chore by chore, her life began to resemble her mother’s at the same age. Brought up in the deserts of Dubai before the dunes of sand were processed into towers of glass, she’d watched her mother slave it out in the home, scrubbing dishes, vacuuming the … More God at home
When one bookworm marries another, there are books peeking out of nooks and crannies and the unlikeliest of places all over the home, even behind the microwave where it may have fallen off when one of you was busy heating something and then, noting the lack of something to read, nonchalantly went on to another … More When one bookworm marries another
I have been reading a lot lately, and one of the books I read extolled the virtues of meditation (not that I was difficult to convince). So I sat down the very next morning at 4.30 am to enjoy 30 minutes of silence while everyone was asleep. Surprise, surprise. It was a cacophony in my … More We got a drooling kinda love
So it’s been ongoing, this discussion with the Voice in my head. *** “Things have been really great around here,” I said. “All’s really quiet and calm and peaceful. Life is good.” The best of all monopoly profits is a quiet life, the Voice replied. The economist JR Hicks said that, not me. So enjoy yourself. … More Clarity despite the white noise
Last Tuesday, P, an ex-colleague of mine and a single mother, found out through conclusive tests that her two-year-old son was autistic. She had suspected it for a while, she said. He didn’t look her in the eye and he was too quiet. But she had hoped against hope and kept her fingers crossed all … More A time of challenges
I’ve been working from home the past couple of weeks, managing a magazine from 2,160 km away (thank God for technology). Instead of a stuffy, airless cubicle, I now look out at an expansive manicured garden as I work from my younger one’s bedroom (and it’s grinning lush green in the rain today). Instead of … More The presence of love
Some decisions suck the blood sugar out of you (this is research by the way) and some come so easily that you suspect something’s wrong. I’ve mostly always taken emotion-based decisions, which isn’t really a good idea, I know. I often regret it later, I often cry, I often go through difficult moments of doubt … More Decisions, decisions
Yesterday I spent the better half of the morning at the passport office, in line to get my daughter’s passport renewed. Having been through my own passport renewal process late last year, I was familiar with the long wait and had taken along a book — my new copy of the ‘Mother’ Mirra Alfassa’s life, … More Beginner’s luck
I am reading this absolutely phenomenal book these days by Iliya Troyanov, a fictionalised piece of history based on the life and travels of Richard Burton in the 19th century. Every day I am blown over by the poetry in the prose and the richness of its tapestry. The book is rich in both the … More Excerpt from ‘The Collector of Worlds’
100 Paths 