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
Sometimes in tragedy we find our life’s purpose. The eye sheds a tear to find its focus. – Robert Brault Each turret, each tower, each little window on the sandcastle had been laid with precious love and care; each stroke of definition had a mother’s firm, devoted touch. Higher and higher it grew, taller than … More An invitation to anew
One of the folktales about Krishna relates an incident when the teenage god, wont to flirt with the young women (gopis) in his village, hides amongst the trees when they’re bathing. Naughty as ever, he snatches up all their clothes and runs away to a corner. When they’re done with their bath, they look around … More Naked
What is the difference between your experience of Existence and that of a Saint? The saint knows that the spiritual path is a sublime chess game with God and that the Beloved has just made a fantastic move that the saint is now continually tripping over joy and bursting out in Laughter and saying, “I … More Tripping Over Joy
The day we moved into our new home over a month ago, I lost my sleep. At first I figured it was the Vastu of the room – we shouldn’t be in the North-east of the house, and our heads shouldn’t be facing north. So we tried sleeping sideways. Then my brother wrote in about … More Sleepless in soul-searching
I spent the better part of my weekend morning sweating it out either at home or in crowded furniture markets in the blazing heat. We’re still not completely settled in — there’s some furniture we need to buy and some fixing up in the kitchen that’s awaiting an expert touch. And so, I’ve been rather … More Woodwork and self-work
Fitting into a new house is like settling into a new marriage. You adjust to certain ways of the house. The house changes itself for you in others. The bedroom door that doesn’t close properly — you learn to pull it in just the right way so as to solve your purpose with the least … More Home and heart
Today this song from the old film The Great Gambler was playing on the radio on my way home from work: Do lavson ki yeh dil ki kahaani / Ya hai mohobbat, ya hai jawani (The story of this heart has only two words / Either it’s [romantic] love or it’s [lusty] youth) I love … More Dil ki kahaani
On 16 February, I wrote this post, where I listed the ideal qualities I wanted from my new home. Today, after nearly two months, we signed the lease. I went back to read my post, just to ensure I’d got all that I wanted. (a) Three large rooms, a study and three bathrooms: No study, but … More House finding
If the kid hadn’t been marginally late to get ready in the morning, she wouldn’t have been home when I got the message from her school that their bus had broken down and we’d have to make our own transport arrangements. I was busy hollering at her to rush to the bus stop, when we got … More The luck of small things
It had been five hours and her 20-year-old body ached for being seated in the same position. Their heads bowed, two henna artists held her hands and feet daintily as they went about their jobs, adorning her with the colour of matrimony. The winter Delhi sun tanned her lovingly, and she regretted wearing a red sweater … More Mehendi
Holi is coming up — the festival when people throw powdered colours and water balloons (ouch) on each other to celebrate the onset of spring. For me, though, colour had another hue this year. I’m going grey in the head. On the head. What started a couple of years ago has now become a sizeable … More The colour principle
We live in an apartment complex with 10 buildings, each seven storeys high. As can be expected, there are plenty of families with dogs, but it is not something I ever paid attention to earlier. I’d stop to pet a dog or two but I never really noticed how many of them were around. All … More Within barking distance
I see You in that dream house I see You in the dried leaves in the balcony I see You in the owner’s good eye that holds my gaze The empty rooms (with large cupboards) waiting for me.
Like a storm in a tea cup, I am currently caught up in an internal tornado that those around me are perhaps oblivious of. The ghosts of the past have been raked up and, like flying cars and planks in a real-life cyclone, are flying dangerously about, threatening to knock me out in old karmic patterns. A few days ago, I … More The struggling vine
A large pile of unexpressed fears got buried under a typhoon of ‘busy’-ness all of the past fortnight. So occupied was I, that I no longer invested in my own daily oases of happiness or in stuff that I normally love doing, like writing on this blog. When a turn of events turned the moth-balled … More Wanting what is
100 Paths 