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Showing posts from March, 2020

A Quiet Corner: Notes from a Desk at 30,000 Reads

A message to all my readers  When I first began writing down my stories in this quiet space, it was nothing more than an open diary. A place to put memories that needed somewhere to rest, reflections gathered over a lifetime, and thoughts that felt too personal—or perhaps simply too ordinary—to share in conversation. Conventional wisdom often suggests that personal musings rarely accomplish much on the wider internet. There are no frameworks here, no quick advice, and no polished agendas. Just the raw textures of life as I have experienced it: the sudden turns, the quiet routines, the moments of doubt, and the steady work of beginning again. Recently, as a small corner quietly crossed 30,000 reads, I paused to look more closely at the numbers. What moved me was not just the milestone itself, but where those visits were coming from. While some readers join from home here in India, so many of you are reading from entirely different corners of the earth—from Singapore across the seas ...

WRITING A WILL DURING COVID19

Corona crisis just rubbed against my shoulders and my overtly overworked brain was spinning more stories than the virus replicating in humans. Corona hugged me like the Italians and Namaste was deliberately whimpering away from glory. What, if I die of pneumonia with such weak lungs what will my sons do they just don’t know anything about my financial liabilities. Thankfully Netflix never suggested newer problems apart from those of loan sharks, which I have been addicted to in past few months. To me, the subject that required most urgent attention was not mask, gloves or the grocery in lockdown but writing my “WILL”. My son ridiculed me on every call have you written your will, not that he is interested in my inheritance but he tries to encourage me to delve in what I would like to do most. “If you don’t have the time to write your will why don’t you stop seeing the patients and doing all the household chores thrust upon you without your consent? You should first do what is real...

THIS IS WHAT AGE IS ABOUT

As a student studying in a different city from my hometown, I had to visit the railway station frequently for my train reservations. Life was not as easy; the long winding queues and the suffocating smell of sweat, the heat, and the body-hugging closeness with people around sent shivers down your spine. A single fan on the high ceiling of the Charbagh railway station was the only source of air circulation, if there was any.  At times, we could assert ourselves and make a separate queue for ladies, but most times this feminist move would be rejected by males waiting for hours for their turn. Obviously, railways had no such provisions, at least on the booking counters, even though they provided a seat quota for ladies on the train. In those dreary hours of waiting, I could simply shift my weight from one leg to another, hoping for a miracle to happen. On the other side of the window, the booking clerk himself looked exasperated. Sweat continued to trickle down his face, and he...