~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was at my cousin’s place for the weekend. It was a fine evening until one of my cousins, a 13-year-old asked me a curious question which led to a conversation worth remembering.

“Aargh! I cannot find my black blazer”, Robert was screaming at the top of his lungs. It was 6:30 a.m. in the morning. Julia, Robert’s girlfriend, was still sleeping. Robert was throwing things around to find his blazer. “What the f**k are you doing? People are trying to sleep here”…

It was 30 years ago that my parents decided to leave the people they loved, the village they were born in to provide a better life for me and my sisters. Only our family moved out of this village. The rest continued to stay there. …

Some things haunt us for a while. ‘A while’ could sometimes be a day, a month, a year or a lifetime. This is one such incident that constantly heeds me of zillion things, right from my relationships to my ego, my humility to my stubbornness, my existence to my priorities. …

Characters - The Husband or Father The Mother or Wife The Son The Daughter — For the first time while dealing with the terminal disease, the Family had started consciously thinking about the death of the woman of the house — Mother of the Children, Wife of the Husband, and…

#1 I visited India during October, 2017. It was the first time I was meeting my family after I learned about my mother’s condition. She had carcinoma — stomach cancer. By the time we diagnosed, it was stage 3B already. She had undergone multiple chemotherapy sessions to fight it. The…

After having completed all the rituals post my mother’s demise, we returned to Hyderabad. I was molding myself to co-exist with the void and the silence the incident had left. On one such gloomy day, I was sleeping on the sofa right under the fan, closer to the TV. I…

I want to thank you for touching my life. I never imagined I would be writing a ‘Thank You’ note, especially to you, knowing that I would not be getting a reply. For one, I never thought you would leave me. But you did. Again, what did you leave me…

Sometimes we meet strangers and talk to them like we have known them for a lifetime. We share our darkest secrets with them. We open up to them to feel relieved and unburdened. With strangers, knowing we are not going to meet them again in our lives, we start being…